And that’s a wrap.
With neither team able to improve its positioning, Reed hung on to top Spanish Springs 73-59 at home on Friday night in the regular season finale.
“I thought we should’ve put it away,” Reed coach Sara Schopper-Ramirez said. “We had chances to put it away a lot quicker. We don’t want to let any team hang around.”
Reed (11-9, 9-7), which finished fourth in the High Desert League, will now turn its attention to the postseason where it will open at Sierra League champion, Bishop Manogue, on Tuesday night.
Spanish Springs ended the season at 7-19, 4-12, good for fifth in the HDL, and will miss out on the postseason for the second-straight season.
“It’s not (where we want to be). But I’m proud of the girls, the way they competed,” Spanish Springs coach Art Cardenas said. “It’s disappointing we came up short in a few games in thought we had chances to win but they worked their butts off.”
After trailing by 18 early in the fourth quarter, Spanish Springs went on a 16-2 to run to pull within 60-56 with four minutes remaining on a Kalli Prendergast bucket. The guests would pull no closer.
The Raiders scored 13 of the final 16 points to put the contest away.
“It’s the game of basketball,” Cardenas said. “It’s a game of runs.”
It was a finish similar to that of the of the third quarter.
The Cougs got within 43-33 after trailing by 16 at the break before the Raiders separated. Freshman Vanessa Hernandez scored six points in 20 seconds to start a 9-0 Reed run.
Hernandez had a night to remember, erupting for a career-high 28 points to lead all scorers.
“It’s been amazing what we’ve gotten out of her (Hernandez) this year,” Schopper-Ramirez said. “She’s been one of our most consistent players and scorers.”
Hernandez was one of four Reed players to finish in double figures. Serene Townsell-Williams had 12 and Taylor Johnson and Tori Baer both had 11.
Tabbatha Reyes was 16-of-18 at the charity stripe to lead the Cougs with 16. Anhelica Shanrock had 12 and Prendergast had 10.
After a first half that featured seemingly as many whistles as buckets, Reed led 39-23.
The Raiders held a 16-11 edge early in the second quarter but went on a 12-2 run to create separation.
Reed’s lead grew to as large as 19 before the hosts took a 16-point advantage to the locker room.
Things get exponentially more difficult for Reed on Tuesday night in the DI North quarterfinals. The Miners are 16-0 against DI North squads this year, including a 68-59 home win over the Raiders in the season opener on Dec. 1.
Schopper-Ramirez said the team will watch film of that game on Saturday to show her team “they weren’t scared.”
“We went out there and we played them,” Schopper-Ramirez said. “That’s the same mentality we have to have on Tuesday. I don’t care if they’re undefeated.”
Vaqueros spoil Railroaders’ Senior Night
By Mike Bradley, reporting intern
Sparks couldn’t keep up with Fernley’s offense on Friday night, falling 65-20 at home.
Fernley’s Hailee Edgar came out firing with 16 points in the first period. The Vaqueros led 25-6 after one quarter.
The Vaqueros settled down in the second quarter only scoring eight points but Sparks still trailed 33-11 at half.
“We don’t have a shot at playoffs and we really just wanted to honor our seniors this game,” Sparks coach Frank Avilla said. “These seniors had a ton of loyalty and we’re going to miss their leadership going forward.”
Fernley continued to push the ball in the third quarter and led 50-16 going into the fourth.
Avilla put in the seniors to start the fourth quarter as they all received ovations from the crowd.
“We have Lowry (Saturday) to finish off the season.” Avilla said. “We’re going to have some fun with it.”
Tip in Lowry on Saturday is at 1 p.m.
Leave a Reply