Tuesday, Jan. 10 2012 4:59PM
Pest control
LS holds off late rally for win against visiting Parkway South
By Toriano L. Porter, Special to the Journal
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ReprintLee’s Summit High School girls basketball team welcomed out of town travelers, and the pesky Patriots from Parkway South High School in Suburban St. Louis were anything but appreciative guests on the court.
After building a 10-point lead late in the third quarter, the Tigers went five minutes without a field goal and just one point. The scoring drought almost undermined a strong first-half shooting performance for Lee’s Summit, who kicked it in gear down the stretch and notched a 56-50 home win Jan. 6.
“They run a lot of different defenses,” Tiger coach Brian Bubalo said of the Patriots. “They were pressing us man-to-man, they were zone pressing us full court and they were running a half-court trap – so they ran a lot of defenses and made it a scramble, full-court type of game.”
Said Lee’s Summit senior center Ali Patterson: “We really needed a win. We had a couple of losses in a row, so I think everybody was extra motivated to come out and play hard. We’ve had really good practices lately and we just pulled together as a team.
“We didn’t let them just roll over us or we didn’t just give them the game. We were able to come back and keep playing hard and not give up. I think that tells us when times get tough we need to just keep pushing and keep doing what got us there.”
The Tigers, 4-6, got clutch plays from players up and down their lineup to withstand a late Parkway South rally that tied the game at 48-48 with 1 minute, 49 seconds remaining in the game.
Lee’s Summit led 40-28 with 4:31 to go in the third quarter and 45-35 with 1:30 left before the fourth and managed just one free throw from Aly Mosier until a layup by Ali Patterson put the Tigers ahead 48-42 with 4:30 to go.
The Patriots stormed back with a 6-0 run to tie the game with less than two minutes to go before Lee’s Summit unleashed an 8-2 run that pulled the rug from under its out-of-area counterparts.
Freshman Micah Wilson’s 3-pointer at the 1:40 mark of the fourth quarter made the score 51-48 in favor of Lee’s Summit. The Tigers answered a Parkway South basket when freshman Eriyonna Irvin drove baseline and scored on a reverse layup with 50 seconds left.
Parkway South’s Tara Timpone had an open look at a potential game-tying 3-point attempt with 22.3 seconds remaining but her shot bound off the rim. Wilson rebounded the miss and fired a pass that ultimately led to junior backup center Abby Hinkles’s put back of a Breana Washington layup attempt with 11 seconds on the clock.
After another Patriot missed, Moser sank one of two free throws to provide the final margin.
“They are a very aggressive team,” Bubalo said, “and we knew that they liked an up and down type of game. Because of the way they play, they’re never out of a game. We could never pull away from them. I kept thinking we were on the verge.
“We’d get to 10 and 11(-point leads), but we never kicked it up because they’d make the steal or get the ball inside and get the basket and the free throws. And I thought they shot free throws really well. They’re a good basketball team.”
Wilson scored 18 points on the night and grabbed 10 rebounds to go with a blocked shot on defense. Regan Dodd hit three long range 3-point baskets on her way to 13 points and Irvin added five rebounds to her six-point night.
Moser finished the night with a game-high six assists and added four steals on defense. Washington tallied five steals to go with her four points and Hinkle collected four points and eight rebounds.
Patterson finished with three points and seven rebounds.
“I liked the way we shot the ball in the first half,” Bubalo said of the Tigers, who held first-half leads of 23-14, 26-16 and 32-22. “I’d like us to be more consistent and do that throughout the game. I like the way we kept our composure and spread the floor and made the layup (by Irvin) at the end. Also, we had the big three-pointer by Micah to give us the lead. Overall, I liked the way we were able to attack their changing defenses.”
Added Dodd: “It was a good game. It was pretty well-matched. This game, we really came together as a team, and we were more focused.”
