ELECTRIFYING
L-E’S shooting from behind arc is lights out against PG girls
It could be said that LibertyEylau's girls shot the lights out Tuesday, but when the lights actually went out during the Lady Leopards' victory the storm outside received the blame.
That didn't stop L-E's girls from raining down 3-pointers and remaining in contention for a District 13-3A title with a 6934 win over visiting Pleasant Grove, which struggled shooting.
The Leopards (22-4, 7-1) shot 47 percent for the game (30 of 64) and were 19-of-35 from the field in the first half. L-E shot 63 percent in the second quarter and outscored the Lady Hawks 27-3 during the period to build a commanding 35-point lead by intermission.
“We've shot the ball well for two games in a row,” LibertyEylau coach Robert Cochran said. “Shardé (Collins) seemed to pick up right where she left off Friday. Obviously, if we shoot the ball like that we're going to be in good shape. I thought the second quarter was our best quarter of basketball, as far as executing at the offensive end.”
The teams played the second half on even terms, but the Hawks finished 13-of-56 shooting from the field for 23 percent.
“We had lots of inside shots and layups—we got the looks we wanted—but we missed them,” Pleasant Grove coach Jason Boston said. “We moved the ball and ran our offense effectively, but the shots rimmed out or were in and out. They just didn't go down early, when we needed it to stay in the game and build our confidence a little.”
Imani Wright came out and drained an uncontested 3-pointer 11 seconds into the game. Renee Walker hit a three 40
seconds later for the Hawks (13-15, 2-6) to knot the score, but the Leopards went on a 9-0 run and a 6-0 rally later in the first made it a double-digit deficit for PG.
Six different players scored for Liberty-Eylau in the second quarter, including treys by Alizé Pegue, Wright and Collins, who nailed three 3pointers in the period.
“Liberty-Eylau is just a tough matchup for us,” Boston said. “Their strengths tend to exploit some things we may be weak at, and so this is a tough matchup for us.”
Lauren Godfrey led all scorers with 20 points, Collins added 15 points, Wright and Morgan Utsey had 10 apiece, and Pegue contributed eight. Wright grabbed 13 rebounds, Godfrey had nine and Pegue added eight boards as L-E won the battle on the glass, 46-33.
“Getting twenty (points) from Lauren makes us a different team,” Cochran said. “Alizé was great Friday night, and she was great again tonight handling the ball and distributing the ball. She gets the ball in the right spots. We've improved in the halfcourt, and it's showing on the floor.”
Brette
Wacha
scored
nine points for the Hawks, and Hayley Harp added six points and 10 rebounds.
In other league games, Pittsburg remained unbeaten in district play with a 33--25 victory over North Lamar, and Paris topped Atlanta, 52-44.