Lawrence uses balanced performance to beat Nottingham
LAWRENCE >> The Lawrence High girls basketball players finally got the kind of complete-game, fullteam effort they have been seeking all of the 2018-19 season.
It may have taken longer than they were hoping, but the Cardinals’ 39-36 win over Nottingham Thursday was a very good sign as the season winds into its final weeks.
Lawrence (4-15) played better at both ends of the floor, got contributions from all eight players who took the court and avenged a 27-point loss it had taken against the Northstars (4-16) the second game of the season.
“Today we really worked together as a team,” 5-foot-7 guard/forward Sadena Rishindran said. “We played calm, cool and collected.”
The Cardinals needed that poise as they rallied from an 18-12 deficit late in the first half. Before things began to get bleak, senior Adeline Ripberger hit two buckets in the last minute to pull the home team within 18-16.
“In the first half, we played under control and were getting a lot of steals,” Rishindran said. “Those baskets that Adeline got came off steals. That really gave us momentum heading into the second half.”
Rishindran, who led Lawrence’s balanced attack with 12 points, put back a shot a minute into the third quarter to tie the score. Then, after Nottingham 5-7 senior guard/forward Patricia Penix followed a shot to put the visitors back in the lead, another Cardinals senior, Sydney Schreiber, hit a 13-foot jump shot to knot the score at 20 with six minutes left in the quarter.
“We should have played more aggressively and picked each other up more,” said Penix, who scored 12 of her 15 points in the second half.
Head coach Matt Paglione’s team, which also got nine points from Ivonne Vasquez, appeared to be in fine shape as Penix scored six in a row to put the visitors up 2622 midway through the third quarter. But Lawrence pecked away to draw as close as 28-27 when Khalin Hemingway (eight points) hit a pair of free throws with 1:22 left.
The Cardinals got the ball back and Heaven Cartwright (eight points) hit a 3-point field goal with 53.1 seconds left to give the home team a 3028 lead heading into the final stanza.
Rishindran scored twice around a shot off glass by Penix to open the fourth quarter. Then she led Hemingway for a layup to put the home side up 36-30 with four minutes remaining.
The lead grew to seven points before Penix hit two foul shots with 1:46 to go. When it looked as though head coach Antonio Stapleton’s squad might try to pull the ball out in an attempt to hold on, Rishindran saw an opening and sliced to the basket for a layup to put Lawrence up, 39-32, with 1:10 left.
That basket proved key when Penix and Aaliyah Oliver scored in the final minute to trim the lead to three with five seconds to go.
Hemingway was fouled and missed a 1-and-1 chance with 2.3 ticks left, but, after a timeout, the Cardinals congested the Northstars’ inbounds pass before the ball could reach the front court.
“I’m really proud of what the girls have done,” Stapleton said. “Nottingham beat us the first time, but today our players minimized their turnovers and hit free throws.” NOTTINGHAM (36)
Haas 2-0-5, Penix 5-4-15, Liles 0-0-0, Vasquez 4-1-9, AOliver 3-1-7, Girman 0-0-0, CMeneus 0-0-0. Totals — 14-6-36.
LAWRENCE (39)
Hemingway 2-4-8, Ripberger 2-0-4, Schreiber 1-0-2, Lestician 1-0-2, Rishindran 5-2-12, Cartwright 3-1-8, Audet 1-0-3, SPatterson 0-0-0. Totals — 15-7-39. Nottinghm(4-16) 7 11 10 8 — 36
Lawrence (4-15) 5 11 14 9 — 39
3-point goals: Haas, Penix (N), Cartwright, Audet (L).