March madness is here for the Davidson Raiders senior boys basketball team as they head to conferences in Outlook this weekend in their bid to make a run at a provincial championship.
The Raiders have been playing better of late and sit at “about .500” as their regular season wrapped up last week with a back and forth 61-55 loss to the Watrous Wildcats Feb. 26 at the Davidson Gym.
“We played really well (despite the loss),” said Raiders head coach Jeremy Murphy. “We played a little bit more consistently, but it happens. It was a good game, really close and very intense.”
Davidson started off slowly against the Wildcats going down 17-14 by the end of the first quarter and 32-26 by the half, but stayed in the game throughout with strong defensive play resulting in numerous Watrous turnovers. On offence, Raiders forward Kurri Reich led the charge continually pushing the Wildcats defence by setting up drives to the basket instead of settling for outside shots.
After the half, Davidson came out strong and thanks to a couple choice threes by Raiders forward Matthias McCreary and a strong inside game by guard Patrick Nordmarken, who continually found himself at the free-throw line, the team moved ahead 45-41 heading into the fourth. In the last frame, Watrous forward Colby McGregor led a press against the Raiders pushing his team to a strong finish and a resulting 61-55 win.
“We turned the ball over a lot, but it was the first game after the break for us and I knew we would be rusty,” said Wildcats head coach Doug Thomas. “The boys continue to impress me as the season goes on. They continue to play together and encourage each other and not worry about the officials. We were missing a few players, so I’m proud they came out and played well.”
Murphy said the boys have showed a lot of progress as the season wore on and the players have developed more of a team game over time. He said as they head into conferences this weekend he feels good that the team can win the necessary two games in Outlook to advance to regionals.
“We’re going to play hard and try to win some games.”