DEFENSE CARRIES LUTHERAN WEST

Longhorns force 38 turnovers in victory over Lake Ridge

Lutheran West knew exactly how it wanted to attack Lake Ridge at home Dec. 3.

They executed just fine. The Longhorns applied a halfcourt press and forced 38 turnovers in a 51-23 win.

Lutheran West (2-1) set the tone early, creating 16 turnovers in the first quarter.

Senior guard Larnae Vance led with 15 points.

“We just used our hands on defense, getting in the passing lanes,” Vance said. “We’ve been getting more into the press this year. My mindset is to come out and kill, get my teammates the ball and get us a dub.”

Last year, Lake Ridge topped Lutheran West by three points and Vance had that game on her mind.

“This was a big game and we had to prove our point to a lot of people,” she added.

After a 26-13 halftime lead, the Longhorns’ defense continued in the third quarter holding the Royals without a bucket until one minute remaining.

Lake Ridge (1-1) was led by Madyson Rosado’s 14 points. The Royals have four sophomores and one freshman.

“We’re young and we don’t have a JV team which hurts,” Lake Ridge assistant Chuck Verhoff said. “Even our seniors are young because they haven’t played that much in three years. Our biggest problem was we didn’t run our stuff. We panicked a little bit. We can’t play afraid, but it’s going to take time. It’s going to take half the season to get to where we need. They are an excellent group of girls and work hard.”

Longhorns coach Trey Senney said the defensive attack has been an emphasis during practice.

“We’ve been working the last week or two on the rotational aspect of defense,” he said. “We had a really tough loss last Wednesday and it was self-inflicted. That made a difference today with the backside of our press and just the help side of the man-to-man defense.”

Lutheran West hopes to show more progress moving forward.

“One place we’re struggling at right now is in the middle of the second quarter,” Senney said. “In all three games, that’s kind of been our downfall. We need to continue that momentum we build at the beginning of the game into the second quarter and into halftime.”

RANDY MEYERS — FOR THE MORNING JOURNAL Marta Roshkowski of Lake Ridge battles Alyssa Scolaro of Lutheran West for a rebound on Dec. 3 at Lutheran West.

RANDY MEYERS — FOR THE MORNING JOURNAL Abriana Rondin of Lutheran West shoots over Maria Munoz of Lake Ridge along the baseline during the second quarter on Dec. 3 at Lutheran West.

RANDY MEYERS — FOR THE MORNING JOURNAL Kristin Groppe of Lutheran West shoots over Grace Adams and Maria Munoz of Lake Ridge during the second quarter on Dec. 3 at Lutheran West.