ML girls fall to 0-10

Bertha-Hewitt

The Mille Lacs Raiders girls basketball team hosted the non-conference Bertha-Hewitt Bears on Jan. 10 and lost a close encounter, 57-48. The Raiders were down just five points by half-time, but the Bears managed to stay ahead in the statistics by a close margin to pull off the win. How close was the margin? The Bears had five three-pointers compared to the Raiders three. The Bears were 5-10 from the freethrow line and the Raiders were 4-13. The Bears ended posting 23 field goals and the Raiders 19. Katlyn Schoeck, Celleia Simmons-Merrill, Brooklyn Orazem and Leah Remer accounted for 36 of Mille Lacs 48 total points. 

Bertha-Hewitt   33   24       57

Mille Lacs       28   20      48

Scoring: Schoeck 11, Simmons-Merrill 10, Orazem 8, L. Remer 7, Ludwig 5, Biniek 4, Strecker 2, Paulsen 1.  

Braham

The Braham Bombers, who were ranked in the top five in the state in Class A with a record of 8-0, hosted the winless Mille Lacs Raiders in a Great River Conference game on Jan. 12. This David and Goliath meeting was predestined to be a blowout, but the only question was by how many points. Even playing without their outstanding guard Arin Zimpel who was out for the season after a serious leg injury a few weeks ago, the Bombers were able to build a commanding 39-8 lead by intermission thanks to the Raiders making just two field goals and shooting 10 percent from the field, while Braham took advantage of 16 Mille Lacs turnovers leading to 16 field goals and a 38 percent shooting average.

With Braham’s starters pulled for a good portion of the second half and running time imposed during the final nine minutes, the Raiders added just four more field goals and finished shooting 14 percent from the field for the game, compared to 15 more field goals in the final half and shooting 56 percent from the field by the Bombers. 

Mille Lacs   8   11      19   

Braham      39   35      74

Scoring: Schoeck 6, Strecker 3, Ludwig 3, M. Remer 2, Biniek 2, Nevaeh Merrill 2, Orazem 1.  

Hill City

For a while it looked as though the Mille Lacs Raiders girls basketball team was going to earn their first win of the season when they hosted the Hill City Storm on Jan. 13. The Raiders built an 11-point lead through most of the first half and were ahead by eight by intermission.

But the Storm cut the half-time lead to one point midway through the final 18-minute period, then followed with a 17-2 run to take a commanding 14-point lead with five minutes remaining, and wound up winning by four when the Raiders staged a late comeback.

Final score: Hill City 50, Mille Lacs 46. 

Hill City        17   33      50

Mille Lacs   25   21      46

Scoring: Schoeck 18, Orazem 9, Simmons-Merrill 9, Strecker 6, Biniek 2, M. Remer 2.