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The Rice Raiders were eliminated from playoff contention last week after being defeated by Poth.
In the Bi-District Round of the UIL Playoffs, the Raiders took on Poth and were eliminated with a score of 54-41.
Getting into the game, the Raiders played a strong game but struggled to score in close and got into foul trouble a little bit. Poth, on the other hand, found different ways to score, and they were able to jump to an early lead.
The Raiders kept battling though and kept things close on the scoreboard despite trailing. In the second quarter the Raiders played a much stronger game and at halftime they trailed by only four points.
Trailing 24-20, the Raiders knew they would need a strong third quarter to give themselves a chance in this game. In the third quarter, the Raiders scored 13 points to keep them within striking distance of retaking the lead. Unfortunately, the Raiders could not stop the bleeding while on defense and Poth scored 14 points in the third quarter. This left the score at 38-33 going into the fourth quarter, and the Raiders were looking to make a push to seal the victory.
In the final quarter of the game, the Raiders scored eight points while Poth scored 16 points. This brought the score to 54-41 final and sent the Raiders home in the first round.
While it was a tough loss, the Raiders showed a lot of grit this season as they scratched and clawed their way into the playoffs. After losing their district game to the Columbus Cardinals, the Raiders had only three games left on their schedule.
With three games left on the schedule, the Raiders sat two games back from a playoff spot, and a lot of people counted them out. The Raiders believed in the group they had though and won all three of their last games and found a way to earn a spot in the playoff bracket.
Yes, they lost in the first round but with a fairly young team the Raiders gave themselves some great foundation to build on next season.
In 2-26-27 the Raiders will take the court hungry for more playoff basketball, and they will play with that same sense of urgency that they ended the season with.
