By: Joe Shouse, Sportswriter
HAVILAND – It wasn’t easy but the Wayne Trace Raiders outlasted the deliberate play of Tinora in posting a seven point win over the Rams 40-33 to open Green Meadows Conference play.
Playing at the Palace last Thursday, the slow-down play of Tinora kept the score low as indicated by a Raider halftime lead of 18-12.
“That’s the way it is when you play a Paul Wayne (Tinora head coach) team. Every possession is big when you play Tinora and we finally were able to get some distance on them in the fourth quarter,” said Raider Head Coach Jim Linder.
The Rams outscored the red, white and blue by three in the third stanza to trail by just three heading into the fourth quarter 25-22. Wayne Trace took control in the final eight minutes of play when Jace Vining drained a three-pointer to open the Raider scoring. Tinora’s Landon Rinkel followed with a traditional three-point play.
Wayne Trace ran their margin to as many as 12 when Reid Miller connected on a long trey followed by a free throw from Josiah Linder and Trae Sinn and two-point buckets from Alex Reinhart and Reid Miller. The Raiders were on top 37-25 with three minutes remaining.
“We needed to get that six-eight point stretch and we got it in the fourth quarter. We didn’t force many shots tonight and we finally found a way to put it together for the win,” said Coach Linder.
Tinora, who evens their mark at 5-5 and 0-1 in the GMC, managed to get the deficit down to eight on a couple of free throws from Tye Norden with 29 seconds remaining but would have to settle for a seven point loss.
“I was pleased with our defense tonight. We were contesting shots and making it difficult for them to score. Last year we played man-to-man defense and wasn’t that successful and tonight we went to our 2-2-1 zone that kept us in the game. I thought we got the job done defensively,” Linder said.
Norden, the Ram’s leading scorer at 14 points per contest was held to just three points including 0-10 shooting behind the arc. Isaiah Colon, who averages just under 10 a game also finished with just three. Leading Tinora offensively was Evan Willitzer with 12.
For the Raiders, Nate Gerber finished the night with 13, hitting 3-4 from three-point range and hauling in six rebounds. Miller was in double digits with 10 and Alex Reinhart with six, hitting all three of his two-point attempts.
Other Raiders scoring: Jace Vining four; Mox Price three; Trae Sinn three; Josiah Linder one.
Wayne Trace shot 14-31 from the floor for 45 percent. At the foul line the Raiders were 6-9 and finished with 34 rebounds and 13 turnovers.
Tinora struggled at from the field hitting 11-45 for 24 percent. Like the Raiders, the Rams were 6-9 from the charity stripe while collecting 26 rebounds and just three turnovers.
With the win the Raiders improve their overall mark to 7-2 and 1-0 in GMC play.
