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Durr scores 20 points to power South Range past Springfield
By Steve Wilaj
NEW MIDDLETOWN
As South Range center Sara Durr poured in bucket after bucket from the inside, outside and everywhere in between on Monday night at Springfield, she did it all with one thought on her mind.
“There was nothing going through my mind other than I just wanted to beat Springfield,” Durr said.
The 6-foot-3 senior notched 20 points and 10 rebounds as the Raiders beat the Tigers, 73-46, to improve to 5-0. Morgan Czopur added 16 points for South Range, while Ashley Sharp scored 14 and Madison Durkin notched 11.
“It’s a rivalry game and I knew it was gonna be tough,” Raiders coach Tony Matisi said. “It was a grind, which I was happy to see.”
South Range built a 17-point halftime advantage to put the game out of reach early. The Raiders used a 21-11 second quarter to take a 37-20 halftime lead, keyed by 19 Springfield turnovers.
“We’ve been executing our press well,” Matisi said. “It really makes us go. I wasn’t all that happy with the decisions off the turnovers, though. Too many quick shots. We were taking the first shot instead of the best shot.”
Tigers coach James Schuler wasn’t happy with the way his team — which committed just six second half turnovers — handled the early pressure.
“We rushed a little bit,” he said. “We’re young and when you don’t have that experience, the game can speed you up a little bit.”
Springfield (3-3) — led by Callie Ford’s 17 points and Kasey Kohler’s 11 — responded better in the third quarter. The Tigers outscored South Range 18-16 and cut the deficit to 11 points before the Raiders answered with a 20-8 fourth quarter.
“We started slowing down and taking our time and breaking the press,” Schuler said. “We fought back and showed we have things that we do well …But we’re still working and gelling together and it’s gonna take a little bit of time.”
Springfield also had no answer for Durr, who connected on 9 of 13 shots in a variety of different ways.
“Being on the block is usually my comfort zone,” she said. “But this year, with having [Durkin] inside, the coaches have pushed me out a little bit and I’ve become comfortable taking outside shots in the games.”
As a team, the Raiders shot 46 percent compared to Springfield’s 40 percent.
“We struggled a bit on offense at first, but I think we really worked together,” Durr said. “We did a good job of finding each other an that was a big reason for this victory.”
Next up for South Range is a matchup at Mineral Ridge on Thursday night. It will be the last of six consecutive road games to start the season for the Raiders.
The Rams are coached by Matisi’s son, John.
“It’s gonna be crazy,” Tony Matisi said. “They’re playing well and we’re really looking forward to getting home. So we want to get two good days of practice in and we’ll be fine.”