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Second-half run lifts Raiders as Rams’ Harkins gets 1,000
By Greg Gulas
BEAVER TOWNSHIP
The South Range Raiders are at their best when their offense is running with the ball and there defense is creating scoring opportunities.
Mineral Ridge’s Alyssa Harkins, an offensive scoring machine who needed just seven points to eclipse the 1,000-point mark for her career, found out first-hand just how stingy the Raiders’ defense could be; even on an off-night.
Ashley Sharp scored a game-high 16-points, Sara Durr added 10 markers and the Raiders used a 22-0 at the outset of the second half for a 58-32 victory over Mineral Ridge in an ITCL, Tier One clash Thursday night.
The win, the third in a row for the Raiders (15-2, 11-0), was the 11th consecutive league win for South Range as they improved to 9-0 at home while the Rams (11-5, 6-4) suffered just their third road loss of the season.
In an uncharacteristically low-scoring first half, the Raiders led the Rams by a 20-12 count and held Harkins to just a bucket, that coming with 2:04 remaining before intermission.
Raiders coach Tony Matisi didn’t have to say much at halftime to ignite his squad.
“We came out slow and got a big pep talk from the coaching staff at halftime. They told us we shouldn’t expect to win if we didn’t hustle and play like we were capable of playing,” Sharp said. “Going on a 22-0 run to start the second half was big. Moving the ball offensively and picking up the pace, something we didn’t do in the first half, was also a key.”
Sharp scored eight of her 10 third-quarter points during that 22-0 run by the Raiders after a seemingly sluggish opening half for the ITCL leaders.
“It really was a game of two halves. We weren’t ready at the start of the game and had no focus,” Matisi added. “We came out in the second half like we should have to start the game.”
South Range turned a 20-12 lead at intermission into a 42-12 advantage just a little over five minutes into the second half.
A 10-3 run to close the quarter, however, would pull the Rams to within 45-22.
Held scoreless in the third quarter, two free throws by Harkins at 7:08 of the final period left her three points of the scoring milestone while two more trips to the charity stripe at 2:48 of the period left her just a point shy of becoming the fourth Rams player to eclipse the coveted scoring plateau.
She missed a bucket in the lane with 1:53 remaining, but was fouled and proceeded to make her first free throw to etch her name in the school’s record book.
“It was hard tonight as [Maddie] Durkin guarded me great all night. Credit my teammates because they got me the ball,” Harkins said. “I’ve been shooting a lot of free throws lately, so it was good to get the point at the free-throw line.”
Rams coach John Matisi, son of the Raiders’ coach, said a near flawless game is needed if you expect to beat the Raiders.
“You have to play at such a high level for 32 minutes if you expect to beat South Range and it was tough to keep up that pace. They ran us down in the second half,” John Matisi said. “It was good to see Alyssa get her 1,000th career point. She works really hard and is deserving of that scoring milestone.”