Shots fall to allow Raiders to run away from top-ranked opponent, cap challenging week with victory

QUINCY — When Sage Stratton’s transition layup attempt rolled off the rim on the first possession of Saturday’s game, the best thing the Quincy Notre Dame girls basketball players could do was laugh it off.

When Tristan Pieper’s shot from the block on the next possession missed the mark, there was a collective “Oh, no, here we go again’” sigh coming from the QND faithful.

“Well, (assistant coach Bob Sheffield) was saying we might miss another one,” QND coach Eric Orne said. “I told him if there was a third one it might not be good and to have Tracy (Orne’s wife) call the medics.”

Thankfully, the ambulance and paramedics stayed away.

Pieper scored on a left-handed layin three minutes into the first quarter, breaking a 2-2 tie and giving the Raiders a lead they’d never relinquish in a 52-22 victory over Cairo (Mo.) Northeast in the 17th Rumble on the River at John Wood Community College’s Student Activity Center.

“It’s nice to see a few layups go in, a few threes go in and everyone gets some confidence all over the floor,” QND junior forward Jenna Durst said.

The Raiders (11-0) missed too many easy looks in Friday night’s victory over Boonville (Mo.) and went to their shootaround Saturday morning still a little tense.

“We kept it simple at shootaround today and tried to get a few smiles going,” Orne said. “It really created a lot of energy, and that energy kept increasing the more we were scoring. You could see the confidence growing.”

That extended to the defensive end where the Raiders, ranked sixth in Class 3A, limited the Bearcats, ranked first in Missouri Class 1, forced 21 turnovers and allowed less than 30 percent shooting from the field.

“I think we were very energetic,” QND junior guard Ellie Bozarth said. “We made it hard for them to score. We wanted to make them uncomfortable. We wanted to be energetic and make it where they didn’t want to play as hard as we were.”

QND went on a 12-0 run in the first quarter and then opened the second quarter on a 12-1 run after Northeast’s Avery Brumley hit a 3-pointer at the first quarter buzzer. The Bearcats scored just three points in the second quarter, while 6-foot-2 senior center Macie Harman, who has signed with Columbia College, was held scoreless in the second half and to just four points overall.

“When they couldn’t get the ball into the big, good post player, that took away a lot of their options,” Orne said. “I thought it kind of just took their soul from them.”

It began by putting the guards under duress.

“I think our ball pressure was a big part of that,” said Durst, who was named the game’s MVP after scoring 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds. “We knew they had a big girl inside and she likes the lobs a lot. To take that away, you have to have a lot of ball pressure. We did a really, really good job of that today. We were very intense on the defensive end.”

A lot of that comes from Bozarth, who plays with bundles of energy.

“When she comes off the bench, she’s like a little lightning rod,” Orne said. “She’s flying around, making things happen.”

Stratton led the Raiders with 18 points, making three 3-pointers.

“I thought we were patient and really did some nice passing as we ran our stuff,” Orne said.

It kept everyone involved.

“It helped our confidence and made us want to take shots,” Bozarth said. “We all have to share the ball, and we need everyone scoring.”

The Raiders’ reward for finishing a strenuous week with a victory — they won four games in five days — is a nine-day break. QND doesn’t play again until a trip to Highland (Ill.) on Dec. 30.

“It gives us a chance to get our legs back, review some film and make some adjustments,” Orne said. “Our second half of the season is as big as the first half. We have some big ones coming up.”