Keenan’s Quinton Johnson sets up for a f ree throw against Spring Valley. Photo by Careese Robinson This one was a rollercoaster ride. When the coaster screeched to the final gate, the Keenan Raiders were hanging on, but just barely.

The Raiders sunk their free throws down the stretch, and that was enough to sink the Spring Valley Vikings, 79- 75, in a non-region contest Saturday, January 28 night in the Spring Valley gym. The Raiders, now 17-3, were led by Eric Hopkins with 17 points, Erick Tisdale with 15, Quinton Johnson with 14, Marcus Stroman with 13, and Trey Stroman with 12.

The Vikings fall to 10-9 overall with the loss. Dominique Taylor tallied 24 points for Spring Valley, followed by Devante Brooks with 18, and Perry Dozier Jr., with 15.

Coach Perry Dozier had high praise for the Vikings’ cross-town rivals.

“They are a well disciplined team,” Dozier said of the Raiders. “...A bunch of guys who want to work hard and do the simple things, and that is what they do.”

The Vikings use their guards offensively from the perimeter when they are successful, but when the shooting is not up to par, and the inside game is not up to par, then that usually dooms Spring Valley.

“Free throws were also not up to par, and that will lose it for you,” Dozier said. “Even at the end, when as bad as we played, we had a chance to win. We probably missed eight or ten free throws in the fourth quarter.” The Raiders hit 32 free throws in the game, the Vikings only 23.

The second half opened with the Vikings leading 37-35 and the tide starting to turn from the green-and-gold to the navyand gold.

“I think we started to execute our zone offense pretty well,” Keenan boss Zach Norris said. “Right at the end of the third, beginning of the fourth, we got some looks inside. Erick Tisdale hit some big jumpers from the corner that were huge. Eric Hopkins played the whole game, probably his best game since Oak Hill.”

Norris said the Raiders tried to take the Vikings’ guard-orientation and turn that strength into a liability. The Raiders don’t have great size on the inside but use their athleticism to great advantage.

“They try to play on the perimeter,” Norris said. “We tried to pressure them to make them come in to the basket a lot. We did a good job of that.”

That strategy worked up until 1:26 in the fourth quarter when two free throws from Kiante Curenton gave the Raiders their largest lead, 74-61. The Vikings’ last ditch effort began with a drive to score and free throw from Taylor. The Vikings would put up 14 points in the stretch run, but it would not be enough.

“We started pressing and making them go to the free throw line. We’d come back and get a bucket and get right back into it,” Dozier said of the Vikings’ late push. “The biggest thing is we did not knock down the free throws, and they did.”

Both teams close their seasons with region contests over the next few weeks. The Raiders will entertain Gilbert on Friday night, while the Vikings go to Blythewood. Dozier says the Vikings’ task is simple yet daunting.

“We have an opportunity to win four games and we need to.”