The Prairie Ridge Wolves came out hungry Friday night, wanting revenge from the Red Raiders, whom they lost to 44-28 on Dec. 7.  The Wolves came out strong, only trailing 13-12 at the end of the first quarter and even gaining a small lead in the second.  Prairie Ridge senior Alex Neckopulos led all scorers with six points in the first quarter, and junior Maddie Drain scored back-to-back baskets off the bench to give the Wolves a small lead early in the second.

But, the Wolves’ lead would not last for long.  Juniors Bethany Zornow and Sam Andrews sparked the Red Raiders’ offense in the second with five points each.

“We definitely worked well together tonight,” said Zornow. “We improved as the game went on and worked collectively.”

Freshman Ali Andrews controlled the floor in the second half with six points in the third quarter and five points in the fourth, which would make her the leading scorer for the night with 16 points, followed closely by her sister, Sam, who finished with 14.    

“We played very well as a team tonight,” said Andrews. “We worked on our offense as the game went on and stepped it up. It was not our best effort.”

Every Red Raider that entered the game had at least three points, including senior Amanda Kaniewski and junior Rachel Zobott off the bench.  The offensively-minded Red Raiders scored 12 points in the fourth quarter to equal a 55-41 win to get their seventh conference win of the season and improve their record to 17-4.

“The kids played really hard tonight, we always had five offensively-minded players,” said head coach Steve Raethz.  “They did a great job extending the lead in the fourth quarter and I am very pleased with the win tonight.”

The Red Raiders hit the road for their next two games, playing at Hoffman Estates Saturday and at Crystal Lake South on Wednesday.