Leopards Cage Wildcats 57-50 – Girls Basketball
Louisville 57, Canton South 50
The Louisville Leopards Girls Varsity Basketball Team earned a 57-50 win over the visiting Canton South Wildcats Wednesday Night at Louisville High School. With the victory, Louisville improves to 3-10 on the season and 3-5 in conference play.
Erin Hahn and Ellie Jackson each scored a game-high 11 points to lead the Lady Leopards. Hahn led all players in rebounds with 8 and Ellie Jackson finished with 5 rebounds to go along with 3 steals. Maggie Galentine and Hanna Lautzenheiser also scored 8 each for Louisville. Lautzenheiser was a force on the defensive end in recording 4 blocks and 3 steals.
The Leopards scored the first six points of the game and never surrendered their lead. They went ahead 16-10 at the half and held the same advantage at the break 29-23. The Wildcats cut the deficit to 32-28 with 4:20 left in the third quarter, but Louisville outscored the opposition 12-5 to end the period in taking a double digit advantage.
The third period ended in momentous fashion. The Leopards looked to stall for the last shot, but Canton South’s Alex Brown intercepted a Louisville pass to start a fast break. Seconds later, Galentine interrupted her dribble in the lane for a steal going back the other way. Galentine dribbled just across the timeline and let loose a 40 foot shot with a South defender closing. The attempt hit its mark, awing the crowd in amazement. More importantly the make gave the Leopards a 44-33 lead and put them in complete command heading into the fourth quarter.
Louisville expanded their lead to as large as 51-38 before Canton South used an 8-3 run to cut the margin to 6. The Wildcats outscored the Leopards in the final quarter 17-13, but Louisville prevailed in the end.
The Leopards won the game despite being out-shot 52% (18 of 34) to 37% (22 of 59) from the field. The clear difference in shot attempts was virtue of their sure dominance on the offensive glass 23-4. The Leopards out-rebounded the Wildcats 34-18 as a whole, forced 14 steals, and blocked 6 shots. Cassidy Kiko pulled down 7 rebounds, Morgan Cole snagged 6 boards, and Kayla Gibson finished with 4 steals to go along with 4 assists.
Brown led the Lady Wildcats (7-7, 3-6) with a game-high 19 points, 4 assists, and 2 steals. Brooke Noll had an impressive stat line in hitting double figures with 10 points while also contributing with 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 steals. Rachel Porter also scored 8 points and had 4 assist for Canton South.
This was the 90th meeting between the two schools in Girls Basketball. Louisville leads the all-time series 65-25 which includes a 35-10 edge at home. The Lady Leopards have now won 7 out of their last 8 against the Lady Wildcats.
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UP NEXT: The Lady Leopards will next host the Carrollton Warriors on Saturday, January 20. JV will begin at Noon and Varsity will follow around 7:30 PM.
Varsity Statistics
LEOPARDS 57, WILDCATS 50
Team 1-2-3-4–TOTAL
Canton South 10-13-10-17–50
Louisville 16-13-15-13–57
Records: Louisville 3-10, 3-5; Canton South 7-7, 3-6
