They may be young, but the Scotch Plains-Fanwood girls varsity basketball team isn't about to back down from anyone. The Lady Raiders battled from start to end before losing to visiting Union 50-44 Friday, despite a game-high 21 point effort from junior sharpshooter Evie Klotz.
"I thought in the first half, we went into the locker room talking about the good things that we were doing," said SP-F head coach Jennifer Ryan, "keeping them off the boards, getting some good shots, not really hitting the ones that we wanted to hit, but we got some open looks, we were low on our turnovers. The second half, we were trying to do the same thing, but some of the balls just went out of our hands and turned the other way and those things happen."
The game was nip and tuck until late in the fourth quarter. Union led 11-8 after the first quarter, with SP-F holding an 18-15 lead at halftime.
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But the Lady Farmers outscored the Lady Raiders 19-12 in the third frame, and that was enough to make the difference after an even fourth quarter. Jamiyah Bethune had 17 of her 21 points in the second half to lead Union.
"Like I've been saying all season long, with a young team, every game we have to come out and take some positive things and try to fix the things that we need to fix," Ryan said. "Today, I thought our rebounding was much better, we were much more aggressive on the box-outs and on the rebounds and we have to take that. We did get some good looks in the first half that we didn't get in the second half. But you know, every day is an adventure."
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Union tried, but they couldn't shut down the talented Klotz, one of the best three-point shooters in the county. She had five three's on the afternoon, to go along with eight rebounds and six assists. She was just short of her season-high of 24 points, which came against Rahway earlier this season.
"There was a game I only shot five times and really didn't help the team at all," Klotz said. "I knew I had to shoot more, but coach reminded me and I had to go out there and try to do what I did at Rahway again."
Renee Oliver also had a strong game, finishing with 8 points and 11 rebounds. Taylor Sabolao added 6 points, while Becca Kreyer had 5 points, 5 steals and 3 assists. Tara Sweeney finished with 4 points for the Raiders, who are steadily finding ways to improve.
"I think we've gotten a lot better," Klotz said. "The Christmas tournament we were at, we got beat pretty bad against Dayton. That was a learning experience. Games are just learning experiences. We have five or six freshmen and they don't have much varsity experience. We just need to get them used to that, coming off the bench. We're getting there."
Klotz knows she has to lead by example, but she's still getting used to that role.
"I'm a really emotional player," she said. "I have to keep my cool and try and keep their spirits up. They're freshmen, they're just not used to it. You can't really yell at them, they're not used to the pressure. I like the role. I had good examples last year, like Jackie Law, I just learned from them."
And with that learning will no doubt come more victories for the Lady Raiders.
They will be on the road to face rival Westfield on Tuesday, February 2, a team they beat earlier this season, before hosting Linden on Thursday February 4.
