Oakes, ND (NewsDakota.com) – The #10 Maple River Raiders were able to ride a strong second half to another victory against a top 10 team. The #8 Oakes Tornadoes struggled in the second half by comparison. The final score was 49-45.

The game started well for the Tornadoes as they jumped out to a first quarter lead of 16-12 being led by Kassidy Jackson and Lily Thorpe. They would continue to hold up the momentum in the second quarter as the Raiders constantly tried for the 3-ball that wasn’t there for them in the first half of play. The Tornadoes also out rebounded the Raiders throughout the first half able to get second and third chance opportunities while Maple River was boxed out from offensive boards. The Tornadoes let at the half 26-21.

The 3rd quarter did not go well for Oakes as they were only able to put up 9 points, 4 of which came from the charity stripe. They also only had 5 shots in the quarter as well compared to the 15 taken by Maple River. This allowed the Raiders to tie it up at the end of the quarter with a score of 35-35. The 4th quarter saw Maple River do just enough to get the win as they were able to put up 14 points in the quarter and continue to clamp down defensively on the Tornadoes not allowing them near the rim. The final score was 49-45.

The Tornadoes were led in Scoring by Lily Thorpe who went 6/12 for 12 points and Kassidy Jackson who went 2/5 from the field and 7/7 from the line for 11 points. Unofficially the team went 17/39 on the night and 9/11 from the stripe.

The Raiders are now 2-0 in District play and 2-1 against top 10 teams while the Tornadoes fall to 1-1 inside District play and 0-2 against top 10 teams.

The Bank North Players of the Game were Lily Thorpe and Savanah Sundby.

The season won’t get easier for Oakes as next up they play #3 Sargent County at North Sargent High School on Monday January 15th. Game starts around 7:00 PM with pregame starting at around 6:45 PM on KDDR The Tornado.