Tenacious Defense Leads Raiders to a 71-59 Victory over Butler
HUTCHINSON, KS. - After being off for 10 days and playing a team just over an hour away from Hutchinson, the Raiders only took a few minutes to lock in and show everybody just why they were the Region 8 Champions. Northwest Florida led for almost 35 minutes of the game and built a lead as big as 24 points early on in the 2nd half en route to winning the Sweet 16 matchup over Butler CC 71-59.
Northwest Florida's defense locked down the Grizzlies, holding them to 59 points on 18-56 (32.1%) and forcing Butler to turn the ball over 15 times. Northwest Florida capitalized on Butler's mistakes, turning them into 24 points on the other end. Taryn Todd led the Raiders with 3 steals and Kasean Pryor had the paint locked down as he blocked a team-leading 3 shots. The Raiders defense only allowed 18 points in the paint despite Butler's Isaac Ondekane's 6'9 290 pound frame manning the middle for Butler.
On the offensive side of things, Northwest Florida rode the coattails of Tavion Banks, who accounted for 20 points and 10 rebounds off the bench. The freshman forward gave the Raiders a solid 26 minutes and was 10-15 from the field. The Raiders were able to dominate inside as they scored 48 points in the paint and out-rebounded Butler 39-27. Kasean Pryor played a big part in the Raiders domination inside as he dropped 15 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 blocks.
Northwest Florida will have Wednesday off before taking the court on Thursday at 2:00 PM vs. #15 Vincennes. Vincennes is 2-0 in Hutchinson, defeating #16 Trinity Valley 70-57 and #2 College of Southern Idaho 75-70. The Trailblazers are 30-5 on the season and are scoring 79.8 points per game, shooting 47.8% from the field. The Trailblazers are led by 6'5 Sophomore Caleb Johnson, who is averaging 16.7 points on the year. In his 2 games at Hutch, Johnson has scored 19 and 17 points on 14-24 shooting.
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