Lady Raiders light up scoreboard in district

Not too many girls basketball programs can say they gave up 17 points in the first quarter of a game…and still led by 20.

Of course, Lomega isn’t your ordinary program.

The Lady Raiders began their quest to add to their trophy case Saturday night by hammering Mulhall-Orlando 111-47 at home in their Class B district championship.

“We shot it pretty good,” said coach Kevin Lewallen in a slight understatement of his team, which improved to 24-2 and won its 21st straight game.

Eight different Lady Raiders combined to make 19 3-pointers.

It started early.

Adysen Wilson nailed five of them and Emma Duffy two more in the first quarter.

That saw Lomega take a 37-17 lead.

Unfortunately for Mulhall-Orlando, it couldn’t keep up that scoring pace, but Lomega hardly slowed.

The Lady Panthers scored just six points in the second quarter as Lomega’s lead swelled to 65-23 at the half.

Hensley Eaton and Shelby Russell joined Wilson and Duffy in adding to the team’s 3-point totals in the frame.

Starters played limited minutes in the third quarter, but that didn’t mean the scoring stopped.

Sophie VanDenDriessche added two more treys in the third. Kalie Gardner added two in the fourth.

Lomega had 92 points by the end of the third quarter and passed the century mark less than halfway through the fourth.

Duffy eventually led the team with 26 points while Wilson chipped in 22.

Roberts scored 17 and Hallie Barton added 10.

Eleven different Lomega players scored.

Mulhall-Orlando advanced to Saturday’s game with a 53-35 victory over Dover Friday in an elimination contest.

The Lady Raiders take on Wesleyan Christian at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Mulhall-Orlando High School in a regional semifinal.

A win puts Lomega into the regional championship at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Cashion against the winner of Hammon and New Lima.

Dover boys beat M-O, fall to Lomega

One player had a majority of the points, but Dover’s season extended into this weekend via a team effort last Friday.

With the season on the line, the Longhorns survived Mulhall-Orlando 57-56 in a Class B district elimination game at Lomega.

The Longhorns’ glee was cut short the next night as No. 13 Lomega downed them 76-32 in the district championship.

Still, Dover (7-19) advanced to this week’s regional tournament in coach Aaron Norton’s first year. They play Shidler at 3 p.m. Thursday in a regional consolation matchup at Mulhall-Orlando.

Dover’s advancement appeared to be a formality as they led the Panthers 44-36 entering the fourth quarter.

The Longhorns were riding the hot hand of Joriaun Caldwell, who scored 34 points through three quarters.

That included 17 in the second when Dover turned a two-point deficit into a seven-point halftime lead.

The teams were trading buckets in the fourth when, with his team up eight, Caldwell rolled his ankle on a drive to the bucket.

That sent Caldwell to the bench as Emory Norton stepped in to make both of his free throws.

However, with Caldwell out, the Panthers pressed. That, combined with a trio of 3-pointers from Tatum Kime saw Dover’s lead disappear.

Kime’s final 3-pointer tied the game and that prompted Norton to employ a diamond-and-one defense.

He put Lance Dunigan on Kime and Kime didn’t score again.

Diego Lopez made 1 of 2 free throws to give Dover a one-point lead in the waning moments.

Dover got a stop on the defensive end and Caldwell, who was coming in and out of the game, was fouled.

He missed his foul shots with four seconds left on the clock, but a scrum for the rebound went Dover’s way as the horn sounded.

Caldwell finished the game with 38 points.

Lopez scored five of his seven points in the fourth.

Caldwell was limited and Lopez was out with the flu in Saturday’s loss as Lomega won its third straight game.

Their presence likely wouldn’t have made up the early dominance of the Raiders.

Riley Lumpkin and Noah Snowden scored nine apiece in the first quarter as Lomega went on top 26-10.

It grew to 47-20 at halftime.

Lumpkin continued his surge. He added another 11 in the second quarter and led all scorers with 23.

Snowden scored 19 and Tate Ott, who buried five 3-pointers, added another 17 as Lomega improved to 18-8.

Dover got 10 points from Caldwell while Kasen Harviston, Trinton Ritz and Dunigan scored five apiece.

The Raiders will take on Wesleyan Christian (17-5) at 8 p.m. Thursday at Mulhall-Orlando.