Please congratulate the 8th grade Boys basketball team on their gritty sweep on Wednesday against Melissa! Both Red and White team played soundly throughout their four quarters and really took advantage of their practice time coming break from break to get back in form. The Gold team struggled heavily on the offensive end of the floor and could just not seem to hit open shots with a number of back iron threes. They found themselves down 29-19 at half but stayed in the fight even when they were down as many as 18 while Melissa was up 40-22 at one point in the 3rd quarter. Taylor Wood hit a three at the end of the third to keep his team afloat just enough to keep the game in reach. The boys were down 40-27 going into the fourth and came roaring back. In a complete team effort, showing great toughness, they pulled off a remarkable comeback getting key stops. Charlie Bradbury helped command the offense and find a number of assists in addition to two clutch buckets. Hudson McClain had a number of key offensive rebounds that led to second chance opportunities. Hall Allison had an off night but came up big when his team needed him most, with a tough finish off a pick and roll to narrow the deficit to 42-40. With the Raiders down 42-41, Chase Merrick came up with a game-saving steal under 12 seconds and advanced the ball to Malik Abubakar who was fouled and sent to the line with four seconds. He sunk both clutch free throws and the Raiders made one final stop to remain undefeated in district play and complete one monumental comeback! White (C) 45-8 HP Bennett Little, 11 points Gold (A) 43-42 HP Malik Abubakar, 15 points Chase Merrick, 10 points Charlie Bradbury, 10 points Red (B) 41-15 HP Henry Rado, 15 points Jeb Olmstead, 7 points Marcum Enfield, 7 points Our Week 5 Toughness Belt Winner is Chase Merrick. He has been a phenomenal two-way player consistently every week this year. Merrick was the on-ball defender when the Raiders were down one with less than 20 seconds to go and was able to come up with a clutch steal. A special shout out goes to Mrs. Bittiker who made the drive up north to support our boys! The Raiders have a bye week next week and will be back on the road to take on Prosper Moseley on Wednesday, January 21st