Raiders' D locks down Tigers

FAIRBORN -- No matter what the offense does, if a defense holds the opponent to 30 total points on 29.7% shooting, chances are that team wins the game.That's what happened Friday in a Division VII state semifinal as Russia clamped down on Seneca East in the opening half to build a 22-9 lead at the half.In that smothering first half, the Raiders held SE's two 1,000-point scorers – Izzy Stockmaster and Alexa Snay – scoreless."Our girls just play defense. We really dug in there," Russia coach Michael Bashore said. "They went ahead 6-3 and then we dug in there on the defensive end. That's what we've been doing all year. You see all of them hustling for loose balls, diving on the floor, that's what they do. They just play so hard and you don't have to beg them to play hard, they want to."Hazel (Francis) is a fantastic defender just like the rest of them and she was on (Stockmaster). Hazel didn't score in the first half, but neither did the girl on the other team. We talk all the time about everyone has to do their job. To hold them (scoreless) – I didn't know that. We switch everything, so everyone got a turn guarding them, so for those two not to score in the first half is a whole team effort."Seneca East started well with a pair of 3-pointers from Karli Foos and Madi Smith to grab a 6-2 lead with 4:16 left in the opening quarter, but didn't score again until an Aubrey Ritzler free throw at the 3:57 mark of the second quarter.SE shot a combined 20% (3-15) in the first half as the Raiders blocked off driving lanes and did not let Stockmaster get to the rim."Their defense is good. I thought it was more of what we weren't doing. We started forcing a few things and we forgot what we were doing," SE coach George Parks said. "Instead of playing the game of basketball, we started pressing a little bit. When you play a really good defensive team with that, you're going to struggle offensively."It is what it is. Their defense is outstanding. They're quicker than I thought, they had great help-side defense and they changed our shots and got some blocks. They just made it difficult for us."SE trailed 33-17 entering the fourth. To come back and win the game, the Tigers had to score more points in the final quarter than they did for the first three. The Tigers tried valiantly to do just that, but it was too big of a hole to climb out of in the end."I really thought we were going to win that game. When we cut it to 10 (34-24 with 6:38 left), I looked up and … I thought it was going to happen," Parks said. "From not even scoring 10 points in a game twice (four years ago) to each year improving to be able to be here where we're at is amazing and all due to the work ethic and leadership and who they are."