The Schenectady Royals traveled to the Raiders Den to take on the 6-1 Raiders. The Royals came into the contest with a 3-3 record and played a tough 1-3-1 zone defense against FM. The two teams battled all game long, but FM dominated the second half and was able to come out on top 87-64.
Photo: FM's Moet Jenkins drives passed the Schenectady defender for an easy two.
The game started off slow with neither team putting the ball in the hoop, but My'eesa Grant ended that with the first point of the game two and a half minutes into the contest. With five minutes remaining in the quarter Grant was able to convert a three point play to go up 9-4. Schenectady hung with the Raiders and took the lead 11-12 with 1:45 remaining. FM answered with an 8-0 run including a three pointer from Shantel Acevedo to regain the lead 18-12. Rebecca Shepard rounded out the quarter with a big offensive rebound and converted on the back end of her foul shots to end the quarter 20-14.
The Royals got off to a quick start scoring four straight points to cut the FM lead to two. Moet Jenkins took control for FM and found open teammates and attacked the rim and was able to push the lead to ten. Schenectady wouldn't go away as they were able to end the quarter on seven straight unanswered points. The half ended 40-33.
A different Lady Raiders Basketball team showed up in the 3rd quarter. FM pushed the tempo and scored 12 straight points to go up 52-33. During that run My'eesa Grant scored eight of those points off of several Moet Jenkins assists. Schenectady was able to end the qaurter on a 6-1 run but FM maintained the lead 63-45. In the final quarter both teams traded basket for basket but the Royals were not able to overcome the deficit. FM went up by 17 with an Abby Boyer three pointer and Schenectady was able to score just four more points in the game. The Lady Raiders went on to win 87-64 and improve to 7-1.
FM will travel to Genesee Community College on Saturday for a Region 3 match-up against the Cougars at 1:00 p.m.
