Raiders finish fast to oust Tigers

March 5, 2015 at 12:00a.m.

Springfield S. Range secondary xxx xxxxxx

By Steve Wilaj

Struthers

When South Range center Sara Durr converted a layup as the first-half buzzer sounded on Wednesday against Springfield, head coach Tony Matisi knew it was big.

The play — which was designed in a timeout with just two seconds remaining in the second quarter — capped an 8-0 Raiders run to propel them to a 12-point halftime lead.

“Going into halftime on that little run sort of turned us on in the third quarter,” said Matisi, who made his way onto the court after the play to congratulate his team. “That’s what really started us.”

South Range never slowed down from there, trouncing the fourth-seeded Tigers, 61-29, at the Struthers Field House in a Division III semifinal.

The Raiders (20-4), a two-seed, advance to play top-seeded Brookfield at 1 p.m. on Saturday for the district title.

“In the first half, we were kind of slow,” said Madison Durkin, South Range’s freshman forward who scored a team-high 17 points. “But after halftime, we came out and executed every pass and made the easy shots.”

In addition to Durkin’s big game, Morgan Czopur scored 12 points for the Raiders, while Durr and Jordan Youngs each scored eight. As a team, South Range outscored Springfield 32-12 in the second half.

“They really wanted to slow the tempo down and take us out of what we want to do,” Matisi said. “We handled them so well during the season, so we preached and preached to the girls the last three days that they’re a good team. It just took us a quarter-and-a-half to get going.”

Springfield (12-11) — led by Callie Ford’s 12 points and Mary Ritter’s 11 — trailed just 16-13 after the first quarter. But the Tigers, who shot just 10 of 41 from the field, scored just four points in both the second and third quarters.

“We came out a little cold at first and then made a little run to get back in the game,” Springfield coach Jim Schuler said. “We were right there, but then we kind of lost our focus a little bit defensively.

“We turned it over a couple times. That’s partially due to what they do on defense. They’re a good team.”

South Range also controlled the boards, finishing with a 39-24 advantage. The Raiders were paced by Durr’s nine rebounds and Durkin’s eight.

“I just always try to work my way around my girl and get position to get a rebound,” said Durkin, who sparked South Range with eight-first quarter points. “During practice all this week we were talking about hustling down the court, boxing out, getting rebounds and putting it back up.

“Now we’re ready for the championship.”