KINDERHOOK–Generally, scoring no points in the opening quarter of a basketball game will doom you to a loss, but that was not the case for the Ichabod Crane Lady Riders last Friday night December 5, when they opened their Colonial Council schedule against Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk. Using a tenacious defense and dominant second-half offensive rebounding the Riders overcame the slow start offensively to capture a 28-20 victory.
The first quarter saw Ravena sitting back in a zone and the Riders unable to find the hoop or draw fouls, while on the other end ICC mixed up their defenses holding the visiting Indians to just a free throw and a layup and keeping their deficit to just three points.
The offenses opened up a bit in the second stanza as Paige Niemeyer hit a long jumper a minute into the quarter, then drew a foul off an offensive rebound and converted both to give the Riders the lead. After a Ravena fast break layup, a well designed in-bounds play with four minutes left in the half saw Jordan Dormady find Niemeyer for another hoop. The Riders finished the half with a flurry, as seniors Jaycee Volkmann and Sarah Quinn Dempsey each buried three-pointers and Niemeyer added a free throw for a 13-7 lead.
Ravena started the second half by converting hoops from all over the court, but the Riders were able to limit possessions by dominating the offensive boards. With their lead cut to just two, Dempsey scored and drew a foul to push the lead to five, then dissected the Indians’ zone, threading a great pass down low to Kirstyn Suchoski, who converted.
The fourth quarter saw the Riders head to the free throw line often and again cleaning up the glass with ease on the offensive side. After a pair of Niemeyer free throws gave ICC a nine point lead, the Indians’ Carly Cross scored six points to make it a three-point game. From there Niemeyer added a free throw and Volkmann hit a pull-up in transition, then the Riders were able to fend off any chance of a Ravena comeback by making free throws down the stretch.
The Riders (now 2-1 overall, 1-0 in league) were led by Niemeyer, who scored 12 points and was active on both the glass and defensively. Volkmann and Dempsey each scored 7 and Suchoski added 2. Aside from those four who scored, the Riders went deep into their bench getting 10 players in on the action, with key contributions from Allyson Firmbach, Dormady, Jillian Smollar and Tara Sager on the defensive end and rebounding the basketball.
