Mike Kraft/MDN Drake Anamoose’s Mariah Mack goes up for a layup in front of a trio of Our Redeemer’s defenders during the second half of a District 6 contest on Monday, Dec. 22.

Christmas is still a couple days away, but the Drake-Anamoose girls basketball team got to open up an early holiday present that was on all of the Raiders’ list – their first District 6 victory of the season.

The Raiders got off to a fast start, used their aggressiveness on offense to get to the free-throw line and locked down defensively, resulting in a 44-38 road victory against Our Redeemer’s on Monday, Dec. 22, in their final game before the holiday break.

Eighth grader Quincy Bruner led all scorers with 18 points, doing most of her damage from the free-throw line, where she hit 11 of 18 free throws. With the win, the Raiders have already matched their district win total from a year ago, where they finished 1-9 in district play with their only victory coming against Velva.

“We’ve been practicing all week for this and this is just a big game and our first district win,” Bruner said. “I’m really proud of our team.”

While free throws played a big factor in Drake-Anamoose’s offensive production throughout the final three quarters, it was the 3-point game in the opening eight minutes that allowed the Raiders to get out to a big lead early. Olivia Fahy knocked down a pair of shots from distance and Bruner hit her lone 3-pointer in the opening frame, as the Raiders scored 12 of the game’s first 14 points.

“They do an awesome job of moving the ball around and they have players that can create space and get their teammates open,” Our Redeemer’s coach Hart Andes said. “They play an awesome game of team ball and they get everyone involved, which is fun to see.”

Drake-Anamoose (3-3 overall, 1-1 District 6) hit just four field goals over the course of the next two quarters, yet never fell behind despite the Knights making a run that eventually led to them pulling even early in the second half. The Raiders got to the line seven times during that stretch, knocking down 9 of 14 shots from the charity stripe.

Our Redeemer’s (3-2, 0-2) made its run late in the first half when shots began falling. Trailing 17-8, the Knights closed out the first half on a 12-3 run, highlighted by a buzzer-beater from well beyond the 3-point line by Tessa Carlson that banked off the backboard.

A 3-pointer from Kadyn Braun tied the game at 21 with 5:25 left in the third quarter before the Raiders closed the stanza on a 7-2 run. Fahy connected on her third 3-pointer of the contest and added another basket, while Bruner knocked down four free throws during that stretch.

“That banked-in 3 at the half, that one hurts when it goes in and you have a lead and it gets cut to two right before the half,” Drake-Anamoose coach Brian Hauff said. “But it didn’t even phase them. They came out in the third quarter and extended the lead. I was a little nervous, but they responded. I’m really proud of these girls the way they played tonight.”

The Knights found themselves in foul trouble throughout the course of the game. They were whistled for 19 fouls. Braun picked up her third foul halfway through the second quarter and both Peterson and Carlson found themselves in the same situation in the third quarter. Carlson would foul out with 4:37 remaining in the fourth quarter with the Knights trailing 33-27.

“Lot of fouls, but I thought the girls that came in stepped up and filled some good roles and knocked down some shots, but for the most part, foul trouble did hurt us,” Andes said.

The Raiders went the first half of the fourth quarter without a made field goal, but knocked down four in the span of the next two minutes to stretch their lead to double digits at 41-31 with 2:04 remaining. Shaylee Hase, Mariah Mack, Giselle Mayer and Bruner all hit shots during that run to ensure their first district win of the season.

“It feels really good. We really need it for our team,” Mack said. “The hard work we put in showed it pays off. We just really hustled and worked together as a team. It will really get us excited and give us the mindset that we can do this and beat those other hard district teams as well.”

Mack finished with seven points for the Raiders. Fahy joined Bruner in double figures with 15 points.

Hauff is hoping a win of this caliber will have a long-lasting impact on his team moving forward.

“Feels good to go into the Christmas break with a win like that,” Hauff said. “We’ve been kind of on the cusp of getting one of those wins that some would say we were the underdog and it feels good to finally get one of those wins against a really quality team like Our Redeemer’s.”

Braun led the Knights with 11 points.

Our Redeemer’s returns to the court to take part in the Hoopster Classic. The Knights’ first game is Monday, Dec. 29, against Langdon Area/Munich at 4 p.m. at the Minot Municipal Auditorium. Drake-Anamoose hosts Surrey on Saturday, Dec. 27.