RED WOLVES
No. 7 Baylor rolls A-State
Lakeside held Prescott to just 4 points in the second half as the Lady Rams rolled to a 57-25 win Tuesday night at Lakeside Athletic Complex.
With a 30-21 lead at halftime, the Lady Rams (9-1) improved their defense without sacrificing their offensive pressure to outscore the Lady Curley Wolves 27-4 in the second half.
“We’re playing hard,” Lakeside head coach Chris Brock said. “That’s the most important thing. We’re competing really hard.”
Prescott’s India Rooney secured a bucket with 4:36 in third quarter before Trusty went 2 for 6 from outside the arc to push out to a 42-23 lead.
Mady Davenport arrived on the floor at the end of the game, making her presence known with a bucket and a trey, and with 1:17 left a Kamiya Beal foul sent Emma Doucet to the free throw line to shoot for the final.
Lakeside opened the match with a 3-pointer and bucket from Chloe Porter within 35 seconds and buckets by Erika Bittinger and Adachi Igbokidi pushed the Lady Rams out to a 9-3 lead. Prescott picked up its offense as the Lady Curley Wolves hit an 11-0 run to take a 14-11 edge.
A pass inside from Carly VanHook to Rooney stretched the Prescott lead out to 5, but Chloe Porter cut the lead with a 3-point play before Maddie Trusty had a steal and a pair of assists to Sarah Poter and Igbokidi
for layups that pushed Lakeside to a 20-16 lead that it would not relinquish.
A 5-9 junior, Trusty stayed secured the hoop for Lakeside, pulling down multiple offensive rebounds to allow ample opportunities to broaden the score.
Coming back from halftime and for the remainder of the game, Lakeside’s defense held Prescott to just 4 points.
“Defensively, we played a lot better in the third quarter than we had in the first half. I was probably a little too anxious in the first half — should’ve stayed man to man and I went zone and I shouldn’t have done that. We kind of relaxed offensively and made a few shots.”
Chloe Porter scored 17 points for the Lady Rams, Trusty had 12, Bittinger had 6 and Igbokidi had 4.
The Lady Rams play next at the Chartwells Spa City Shootout at 6 p.m. against Mount Saint Mary’s on Dec. 26.
“That tournament’s a lot of good teams,” Brock mentioned. “There’s plenty of good teams in our conference this year so it’ll be tough test for us.”
* With coach Dominique Battles now at the helm of the Lakeside junior high girls basketball program, the team seems unstoppable as it took a 48-10 win over Prescott at Lakeside Athletic Complex.
“As a group, we’re playing so unselfish right now,” Battles said.
“Everybody’s getting a little bit, so I just think we look good no matter what. Even against the worst team, we’re unselfish, we’re playing quality basketball. We’re strong [and] communicating well.”
The junior Lady Rams (9-0) showcased exactly what kind of team they are, holding the visitors to just 2 points in the first frame. A foul on Mahogany Tidwell allowed three free throws for Amelia Rogers who sank each one for a 16-2 lead. Kennedy Brock sank a basket and 3-pointer followed by a bucket from Rogers.
With less than 1:47 until half, Brock shot two treys to propel her team to a 32-4 buffer at intermission.
“She is shooting the ball really well,” Battles noted. Returning from the break, aside from a free throw by Brock, Allie Pollock put up all points in the third frame as the junior Lady Curley Wolves offense failed to execute and rally behind Harmony Woods to revive their team.
“I know we won by 30 points tonight, but I told the girls, that’s quality basketball from us,” he said.
The junior Lady Rams host Arkadelphia tonight.
“If we’re playing like we’re playing right now, it’s gonna be hard for anybody to beat us. No matter who comes out so I anticipate a win. Of course after the break, we’ll get into some tougher competition but right now it’s all Lakeside.”