BASCOM - It wasn't as though parking was at a premium at Hopewell-Loudon High School Thursday night.
So when folks who hoped to take in the Chieftains home girls basketball game against Lakota found the usual entrance blocked by a tree service lift truck, it was not a good sign.
Problems with the roof were the issue, so fans were re-routed to the main school entry.
Inside, the Raiders found the figurative roof falling as well. The Chieftains hit seven of their first eight shots and opened a 26-3 lead on the way to a 60-30 Midland Athletic League win.
The blueprint for Hopewell-Loudon's fourth win in seven games was drawn up a week ago, though it wasn't pleasant reading.
"We came out against Mohawk last week and they did that to us," said H-L coach Rod Daniel, whose team evened it MAL record at 2-2. "They had us down (22-6) in the first quarter and beat us up pretty good.
Fact Box
Hopewell-Loudon 60, Lakota 30
Lakota (1-8): Stephanie Miller 4-1-11; Alyssa Talbert 0-0-0; Rachel Feick 1-2-5; Jessica Walter 0-0-0; Moran Mowry 0-0-0; Katie Park 1-2-4; Paige Alloway 0-0-0; Amber Steiner 0-0-0; Morgan Gangwer 0-2-2; Ally Hovis 2-4-8. Totals: 8-11-30.
Hopewell-Loudon (4-3): Courtney Burns 5-1-12; Shaina Bouillon 2-2-6; Marissa Reinhart 0-0-0; Aleta Daniel 0-0-0; Kiley Siegel 1-0-2; CJ Hohman 6-0-12; Lauren Trumpler 3-0-7; Hope Brickner 1-2-4; Kailey Coleman 2-0-4; Danielle Rohrbach 5-3-13. Totals: 25-8-60.
Lakota310710 - 30
Hopewell-Loudon2015178 - 60
Field goals: Lakota 7-42; Hopewell-Loudon 25-59.
3-point goals: Lakota 3-5 (Miller 2, Feick); Hopewell-Loudon 2-8 (Burns, Trumpler).
Foul shots: Lakota 11-24; Hopewell-Loudon 8-17.
Rebounds: Lakota 29 (Hovis 9); Hopewell-Loudon 47 (Burns 10, Rohrbach 9, Brickner 6).
Turnovers: Lakota 19; Hopewell-Loudon 14.
"We told the girls we've got to be the aggressor tonight," he said. "We wanted to set the tone, build a lead and then build on it some more from there. Then we wanted to work on the little things to make us better."
Hopewell-Loudon owned a 10-1 lead by the five-minute mark of the first period. Courtney Burns had a hand in the first three baskets with a pair assists to CJ Hohman and a transition layup of her own.
The next two times down the floor, 6-foot-4 post Danielle Rohrbach scored twice off passes from Aleta Daniel and Hohman.
By quarter's end, the Chieftains had six assists and nine baskets, including 3-pointers by Burns and Lauren Trumpler, for a 20-3 advantage. It was a margin the Raiders were unable to overcome.
"They're big and they really hurt us on the boards," Raider coach Mike Miller said. "But it's our shooting percentage that has really hurt us. We've struggled all year hitting the open shots. We're in just about every game if we could just get that shooting percentage up."
The Raiders managed to hit 1-of-10 from the field in the first period, 5-of-21 for the half and 7-of-42 for the game in falling to 1-8 overall and 0-4 in league play.
"They started out hot and really got us down," Miller said. "But we stayed with them a lot of the rest of the way. We got a few shots to drop, but we've got to shoot better."
Meanwhile, the Chieftains were able to attack inside and connected on 22-of-46 through three quarters.
"We outsize most of our opponents but there are some nights when we don't get the ball in there the way we should," Daniel said. "But tonight, we did take advantage of our post players and we got some easy looks. That's the way it should be."
Rohrbach had 13 points and nine rebounds for the winners. Burns was solid all around with 12 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists while Hohman checked in with 12 points and five boards. The Chieftains finished with 13 assists overall.
"Against teams that want to play a zone on us, I think we do a decent job of moving the ball up top," Daniel said. "We're trying to get the girls to look to make the extra pass and we know we've got Danielle sealed on the left side of the floor. She's pretty solid there."
Stephanie Miller led the Raiders with 12 points, including a pair of 3-pointers.
"She did really well tonight, but she was hampered with some foul trouble," Mike Miller said. "I like to keep her in there all the time, unless she needs a break. But we had to get her out of there for a while and we really had trouble scoring then."
Ally Hovis came off the bench to contribute eight points and grab nine rebounds for the Raiders.
