Raiders show no let up in rumbling to victory over Burlington Notre Dame

QUINCY — After seeing an apparent blowout turn into a nail-biting victory Monday night against Central-Southeastern, Quincy Notre Dame girls basketball coach Eric Orne reiterated to his team the importance of playing with the same intensity for four quarters.

Consider the message received.

Behind the perimeter shooting of guard Sage Stratton and a smothering defense, the Raiders raced to a 23-3 lead in the first quarter and cruised to a dominating 64-18 victory over Burlington (Iowa) Notre Dame Wednesday night in the 16th Rumble on the River at John Wood Community College’s Student Activity Center.

Stratton scored 11 of her 14 points in the opening period, burying three deep 3-pointers in the process, and QND forced the overmatched Nikes into 12 of their eventual 26 turnovers to win for the 14th time in 15 games.

Importantly, the Raiders didn’t let up after increasing their advantage to 40-8 at halftime. They limited Burlington Notre Dame to just one field goal in the third quarter while increasing their lead to 58-13, and only three in the second half.

“We came out strong in the first half like we did against CSE, but then we finished it off,” Stratton said.

Which is exactly what Orne implored his team to do.

“We weren’t having the best of shoot-arounds (Tuesday), and so I reminded them about Lady Raider basketball tradition,” he said. “I may have used some words that hopefully hit home, but it was a lot about effort … to do tough things to make our program successful.

“I think that through the tough game Monday and understanding that we’ve got to play four quarters, something set in, and I hope it continues. Granted, it was a little easier than Monday, but at the same time, we have a level of basketball we want to keep even in games where we’re doing well.”

Forward Jenna Durst and center Tristan Pieper complemented Stratton by scoring 14 and 12 points, respectively, inside and at the free-throw line. Forward Lauren Hummel scored all nine of her points on transition baskets, and guard Ari Buehler consistently distributed the ball to open shooters while scoring seven points herself.

“It’s always good to share the ball around to get people touches,” Stratton said. “We always want balance scoring.”

The outcome was never in doubt after QND hit five of its first six shots from the floor to bolt to a 12-1 lead.

The Nikes, who entered the game 4-4 and losers of three straight, were unable to handle the Raiders’ full-court defensive pressure. Their 12 first-quarter turnovers ballooned to 20 by halftime, and they were held scoreless for more than eight minutes during one stretch overlapping the first two quarters.

Guard Lauren Krieger, who came in averaging 17 points per game, was limited to seven, with four of those coming in the fourth quarter against reserves under a running clock.

“We want to be a transitional team that plays good defense and gets up and down the court,” Orne said. “That’s always been a staple of our program.”

The Raiders, ranked seventh in the Class 3A state poll, must turn around to travel to play Beardstown on Thursday night.

“Maybe this was a good confidence-builder going into (that) game,” Orne said. “That finishes off our first half, and if we go to 15-1, that’s comparable to what we’ve done many years before.”