Staff photo / Dan Hiner Hubbard’s Layla Songer, right, tries to rip the ball away from South Range’s Heidi Bartels during the third quarter of a game on Monday at South Range High School.

BEAVER TOWNSHIP – Each team won a quarter of Monday’s game, but it was South Range’s second-half play that pushed the Raiders over the top.

The Raiders’ girls basketball team took care of the ball and made plenty of trips to the line in a 44-26 win over Hubbard. The victory extended their win streak to three games.

South Range jumped out to an early lead, but the Eagles clawed their way back into it just before halftime. However, the Raiders got back into the game defensively, and they outscored Hubbard 9-0 in the third to break the game open.

“First quarter, we made shots and they didn’t, and in the second quarter, they made shots and we didn’t. That’s how the flow of the first half went,” South Range head coach Jeff Fishel said. “We weren’t in the right spots defensively in the second quarter, and then we came out in the third quarter and shut them out. I’m really proud of how we came out and set the tone on defense in the second half.”

South Range (6-4, 2-2 Northeast 8) jumped out to a 14-2 lead in the first quarter. Everything was clicking on both ends of the court, but that changed in the second quarter.

Hubbard (6-7, 1-4 NE8) began to press defensively, forcing the Raiders to hurry while making their way up the court. Active hands by the Hubbard defenders led to turnovers and some lightly contested shots at the other end.

The defensive improvement allowed the Eagles to cut the deficit to 22-17 at halftime. South Range figured out the defense, however, and the Hubbard offense couldn’t get a shot to fall in the third as they were shutout in the frame.

“I just got done telling ’em, ‘The game’s 32 minutes,'” Hubbard head coach Patrick Manzo said. “You gotta play hard for 32 minutes, you gotta know your assignment for 32 minutes.

“First half, first quarter, we weren’t patient on offense. We were one pass, shot, one pass shot. Get a steal, right back over. We gotta take care of the ball when you get a steal or a turnover. And in the second half, we were playing from behind again. They hit some of their shots, we missed a bunch of our layups. And that’s when you gotta start attacking their defense and dribbling – drive and kick.”

South Range’s lead grew to 31-17 by the end of the third quarter, and the Raiders’ attacking offense resulted in 15 attempts from the free-throw line in the second half. They only made seven from the line, but they continued to apply pressure from the stripe.

The Raiders were too much offensively in the fourth for the Eagles to put together another comeback.

Heidi Bartels scored 13 points to lead the Raiders, and Taylor Dado added 12 points. Gwen Lowry finished with nine points, including two of South Range’s three 3-pointers.

Hubbard was led by Cara Green, who scored nine points. Layla Songer and Khamyah Howell each added six points.

It may sound simple, but Fishel said his team’s success is a result of holding onto the ball and being aggressive offensively. It’s easier said than done, but the Raiders are on a roll.

They have outscored their last three opponents – Garfield, Mohawk (Pa.) and Hubbard – 148-92 while picking up wins. Now, the Raiders will begin mixing in more Northeast 8 opponents in the second half of the season.

“We can struggle to score at times, and it has to be the mentality to not turn the ball over and attack the basket,” Fishel said. “The more shots we can get – it’s a numbers game – the more shots we can get, the more points we can score.”