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KHQA SUBWAY/SUPERFAN SHOOTOUT PREVIEW

QND Lady Raiders

Friday 2/1 vs. Springfield High, 7 PM

Saturday 2/2 vs. Rolling Meadows, 7:30 PM

Three state-ranked teams on three consecutive days: that's the challenge facing the QND Lady Raiders this weekend. Their matchups with Nashville, Springfield High, and Rolling Meadows will provide perhaps the toughest 72 hours this team has ever seen.

"It is, and we need to see that type of competition because our regional with Jacksonville, Springfield Southeast, and Sacred Heart Griffin is going to be challenging. This type of competition is going to prepare us for the postseason, we just want to come out and display our talents on these two great nights and hope for the best outcome,"

"I'm definitely excited - it's a great way to start our postseason. We'll have 3 great games under our belt and I couldn't be more happy to have these games scheduled for us,"

It begins with the number 3 team in Class 2A on Thursday, as QND and Nashville square off in St. Louis. That's followed by Springfield High the next night at the Subway Superfan Shootout. This will be the 4th time that the current senior class has seen Springfield, currently ranked number 4 in Illinois Class 4A.

"They're balanced, Springfield is extremely balanced. The scouting report on them is that they play 10 players, they're unselfish and can play team ball, and they know how to win,"

But the game that could turn out to be the centerpiece of the weekend, and maybe their entire season, is the one against Rolling Meadows on Saturday. A team ranked 3rd in Class 4A, and whose only loss this year came at the hands of Lombard Montini.

"They have 4 very good guards, two of them are Division I recruits. With our press, I think their dynamics are going to throw a wrinkle in what we try to do defensively. Its one of those things where the more we see them on film, hopefully we can pick up on some of their tendencies,"

"Playing against them is going to be really good for us going into the post-season, especially since they've played Montini who hopefully we can see at state some time,"

And something that is sure to come up heading into Thursday will be QND's current 41-game win streak. But internally, its merely a nice footnote.

"If we come out of here with a loss, that's not a bad thing. We would just need to improve on what we didn't do well in the game, but at the same time, we're coming out here to win a game each night and that's what our program has stood for, especially the last 6 years,"

"We're just going to go game-by-game, and whatever happens, happens. We just need to play our game and work hard. A loss will teach us a lot but we're working hard,"

"At the end of the season we can look back and see what we did, but right now we can't focus on ruining the undefeated streak. We just have to focus on playing our best, doing our best out there and hopefully getting a win,"

The Raiders don't need to prove to anybody that they're an elite program, but a good showing this weekend certainly strengthens the argument.