Clutch Shooting Propels Lady Leps Over Marlington
FULL VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS
Louisville 53, Marlington 49
The Lady Leopards sunk 8-of-8 free throws in the final minute to ice a 53-49 victory in a physical, hotly contested ball game at Marlington High School Wednesday night. The win allows the Lady Leopards to keep pace with West Branch and sets up what will essentially be the NBC Championship game between the two squads Monday night at Louisville. Brianna Libertore racked in 18 points and Mackenzie Storlie also scored 14 points to lead the Lady Leopards to their 29th victory in 30 games against the Dukes.
The calm before the storm? Not so much. The Lady Leopards were clutch, they showed heart, they were unphased by the pressure of the situation, and they brought themselves one step closer to another league title after winning their final road game of the season. But before all that they had to rally from a fourth quarter deficit.
The Dukes led 37-36 heading into the fourth quarter and out of the break their initial game plan was to stall out the clock. This forced a scoreless two minute period before Katie Reed drove to the hole and scored to make it 39-36 Marlington. Reed would finish with 16 points and altogether hit 4 three-pointers for the contest.
The Lady Leps followed that bucket with 8 straight points of their own. Libertore scored on the ensuing possession, Molly Brown hit a pair of free throws, and Clara Lemmon scored twice from the field to give the Leps a 44-39 advantage. Brown and Lemmon finished with 9 points a piece for the evening.
Marlington’s Ronn’Yeil Hogan would then produce five straight points, including a three-pointer from the left corner to tie the game at 44-44 with 2:17 left in the game. Hogan finished the night by leading all scorers with 21 points.
On the other end of the floor, a Marlington foul sent Brown back to the line in hopes of giving the Leopards the lead. She did just that by making both free throws, however a lane violation nullified the second attempt leaving the score 45-44.
The Dukes had a chance to tie the game on their next possession, but Mallory Chambers three-ball circled the rim and fell off. Lemmon came up with the timely rebound and Louisville used beautiful passing to run the clock down under a minute. Brown was fouled on the way to the hoop and hit two more clutch charity shots to extend the Leopard lead to 47-44.
The Leopards defense took over on the opposite end. Lemmon forced Reed to air-ball a three before Storlie intercepted a pass. However, Storlie traveled in the process giving the Dukes another opportunity. Stellar defense forced another prayer shot that missed the mark and Lemmon was fouled after pulling down the rebound. With ice water in her veins she made the most of a 1-and-1 opportunity and gave Louisville a 49-44 lead.
Hogan made two free throws on the other end to cut the deficit to a single possession, but Storlie was fouled on Louisville’s possession sending her to the line for the double bonus. A timeout by Marlington did not phase her and the press box dancing of JV players Sydney Bartolet, Keri Hupp, & Morgan Paulus loosened up all of the Lady Leps during the tense moment. Storlie banged home both free throws and hit two more on the next possession to put Louisville up 53-46 with less than five seconds remaining.
Reed’s buzzer-beating three-pointer made the official score 53-49, which marked the Lady Leps 15th straight victory at Marlington. However, past history has little to do with this Lady Leopards squad that continues to strive forward toward their present goal of another NBC crown. Monday night they will have a chance to make the 2011-12 season another banner year.
STATISTICS
LEOPARDS: Libertore 8 2-2 18, Storlie 4 2-2 14, Brown 2 5-5 9, C. Lemmon 3 3-5 9, Rice 1 0-0 2, Risaliti 0 1-2 1. TOTALS 18 15-18 53.
TEAM FG: 18-38 47%
TEAM 3PT: 2-7 29% | Storlie (2)
TEAM FT: 15-18 83%
DUKES: Hogan 7 5-6 21, Reed 5 2-2 16, Stuffel 2 1-2 5, Chambers 2 0-0 4, Bitzel 1 0-0 3. TOTALS 17 8-10 49.
TEAM FG: 17-41 41%
TEAM 3PT: 7-20 35% | Reed (4), Hogan (2), Bitzel (1)
TEAM FT: 8-10 80%
Team 1-2-3-4-Total
Louisville 9-15-12-17–53
Marlington 5-22-10-12–49
Rebounds: Louisville 21-19
Fouls: Marlington 18-13
Records: Louisville 12-4, 10-1; Marlington 12-4, 9-3
NEXT UP: The Lady Leps will next host the Alliance Aviators on Saturday, February 4. JV will tip at 10:00 AM and Varsity will follow at approximately 11:30 AM.
PICTURES
JV REPORT
Louisville 57, Marlington 34
The Lady Leps JV squad moved to 11-0 in NBC play with a convincing 57-34 win over Marlington. Louisville was led by Rachel Zeller who poured in a game high 13 points and Hollyann Mullett who also scorched the nets for 10. The Lady Leps scored double digits in every quarter despite failing to hit a free throw at any point in the game. Marlington’s undoing was their 23 turnovers compared to Louisville’s 14. The much improved Dukes, who lost to the Lady Leps 55-2 earlier this season at Louisville, were led by Maelee Hall who scored 10 points. Morgan Paulus also added 9 for the 13-3 Leopards.
JV PICTURES
JV STATISTICS
LEOPARDS: Zeller 6 0-0 13, Mullett 5 0-0 10, Paulus 4 0-0 9, Hmeidan 3 0-0 6, Nees 3 0-0 6, Hupp 2 0-2 5, Rankin 2 0-2 4, Skolosh 2 0-0 4. TOTALS 25 0-4 57.
3PT: 3 | Hupp (1), Paulus (1), Zeller (1)
TEAM FT: 0-4 0%
DUKES: Hall 5 0-3 10, Royer 2 2-3 6, Rodgers 2 1-2 5, Bitzel 1 1-3 3, Ryan 1 0-2 3, Shaffer 1 1-2 3, Kennedy 1 0-0 2, Norton 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 14 5-15 34.
3PT: 1 | Ryan (1)
TEAM FT: 5-15 33%
Team 1-2-3-4–Total
Louisville 18-15-12-12–57
Marlington 8-7-14-5–34
Fouls: Louisville 17-12
Turnovers: Marlington 23-14
