Split personality

Lomega has passed one of its early-season tests in the season-long battle for the Cherokee Strip Conference title.

The Lady Raiders overcame poor shooting and Burlington’s deliberate style to manage a 45-39 victory at home last Friday.

“We needed to win one like that,” Lomega coach Kevin Lewallen said. “They try to take you out of your game, so we had to overcome that.”

Burlington has made it to six straight Class B state tournaments and is now under first-year coach Jade Jones.

The Lady Elks limited Lomega to 35 percent shooting overall and 25 percent from 3-point range.

They led 11-10 after a quarter, but Lomega surged with a 14-8 run in the second.

It was Lomega’s best-shooting quarter of the game.

Sophie VanDenDriessche, Darcy Roberts and Adysen Wilson each made a 3-pointer during the frame.

Roberts had kept Lomega afloat in the fi rst with six points. All nine of her points came in the fi rst half.

The Lady Raiders (3-1) took a six-point lead into the fourth and held on.

Wilson scored six of her team’s 10 points in the fi nal eight minutes.

Wilson finished with a team-high 21. Hensley Eaton added eight, six of which came in the second half.

Burlington had just two players score.

Anna Motycka led all scorers with 24 points. Anna Highfill added 15.

Only two other Lady Elks attempted shots in the game.

Paschal’s play lifts

Elks past Raiders

In a matter of seconds, Lomega’s probable win against Burlington went from “slipping away” to “gone.”

Preston Paschal’s four-point play with three seconds left Friday night gave the Elks an improbable 53-52 victory at Lomega in a Cherokee Strip Conference game.

Lomega led by 15 points at halftime and still maintained an 11-point advantage entering the fourth quarter.

That’s when the Elks went on a 25-12 spree, capped by Paschal’s dramatic game-winner.

Lomega’s last-second, three-quarter court shot to reclaim the lead scraped the ceiling as time expired.

“We made a ton of mistakes in the fourth quarter,” Lomega coach Kevin Edsall said.

The Raiders had just three field goals in the fourth, all by Noah Snowden.

After a stellar first half, Snowden was scoreless in the third quarter, then awoke for 10 in the fourth.

The rest of the team, though, scored just three free throws as the Raiders attempted to hold onto their lead.

Snowden scored 19 points to lead the team.

Blake Snowden was red-hot in the first quarter as he drained four treys to help his team to an 18-10 lead.

Tate Ott made two of his own in the second as the lead grew to 31-16.

Paschal scored five in the third as the Elks closed the gap and then 12 in the fourth. Paschal led all scorers with 21.

Blake Snowden finished with 15 for Lomega (3-1) while Ott scored 11.