Video Highlights

Louisville 36, Faircrest 21

The Louisville Lady Leopards 8th Grade Basketball team defeated the tournament host Faircrest (Canton South) Wildcats 36-21 in the NBC Championship Wednesday.  With the victory, the Lady Leps went 19-0 for the year, went 34-0 against the NBC in 7th-8th grade, and also went an undefeated 38-0 overall for the past two seasons.

Sarah Lairson led Louisville with 11 points, while Abby Beaver scored 9 and Kennedy Brown added 8.

After a few minutes of scoreless basketball, the Lady Leps jumped out to a 6-0 advantage.  However, the Lady Wildcats roared back on an 8-0 run to snatch the lead away from the Lady Leps 8-6 after the first quarter.

Louisville responded to the Faircrest surge by shutting out the Wildcats for the entire second quarter.  Meanwhile, the Lady Leopards scored 9 points in the period to take a 15-8 advantage into the half.  The big play of the quarter came when Beaver hit the only three-pointer of the contest.

Momentum continued to swing in the second half as Faircrest flew out of the locker room on an 8-0 run to tie the game at 15-15 and later 17-17.

However, the Lady Leps then broke the game open with a 10-0 run of their own.  First, Brooke Layton scored a very important lay-up with just 4.9 remaining at the end of the third quarter to give the Leps momentum.  Then Louisville ripped off three straight baskets in a span of 25 seconds to begin the final quarter.  On the first possession, Lairson hit a jumper to the right of the free throw area.  Then after a steal in the backcourt, Beaver dropped in a basket.  After that Kristen Wharmby batted down a Faircrest pass into the hands of Beaver.  Beaver threw a chest pass to Wharmby and Wharmby bounced a pass into the paint to Lairson for the score.

Another Lairson layup would put Louisville up by double digits.  The Wildcats would break the run with a score of their own, but the Leopards confidence was sky high as they answered back to each of Faircrest’s final two baskets.

The Lady Leps shutout the Lady Wildcats over the course of the final 2:37 to claim their back-to-back Championship.  Chants of “38-AND-0” and “Undefeated” could be heard from the crowd as the clock wound down and out.  The team celebrated at half-court chanting “N-B-C!” and, along with Head Coach Jim Gotshall, they received the Championship trophy.

Below you can see the stats from this game, pictures from the game, and the score of each game this remarkable 19-0 season.

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STATISTICS

LEOPARDS 36, WILDCATS 21

WILDCATS: Karovic 3 0-2 6, Moore 2 1-2 5, Ledger 2 0-1 4, Zaleski 2 0-0 4, Martin 1 0-0 2, Miles 0 0-2 0.  TOTAL 10 1-7 21.

3-Pointers: None

Team FT: 1-7 14%

LEOPARDS: Lairson 5 1-2 11, Beaver 4 0-0 9, Brown 3 2-2 8, Layton 1 3-9 5, Wharmby 1 1-2 3.  TOTAL 14 7-15 36.

3-Pointers (1): Beaver

Team FT: 7-15 47%

Team 1-2-3-4–TOTAL

Faircrest  8-0-9-4–21

Louisville 6-9-4-17–36

Fouls: 14-12 Faircrest

Records: Louisville 19-0, 17-0

PICTURES

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8th Grade Lady Leopards Basketball 2012-13 Results

Game	Date	Opponent	W-L	Louisville	Opponent
1	11/24	St. Sebastian’s	W	51	4
2	12/1	St. Michael’s	W	34	11
3	12/3	Carrollton	W	34	10
4	12/5	Alliance	W	60	6
5	12/10	at Canton South	W	44	23
6	12/12	at Minerva	W	46	13
7	12/17	Marlington	W	33	10
8	12/19	at West Branch	W	53	19
9	1/7	Salem	W	43	35
10	1/9	at Carrollton	W	22	12
11	1/14	at Alliance	W	26	9
12	1/16	Canton South	W	36	12
13	1/23	Minerva	W	39	24
14	1/28	at Marlington	W	56	17
15	1/30	West Branch	W	44	9
16	2/4	at Salem	W	41	26
		NBC TOURNAMENT (at Faircrest Middle School)
17	2/9	Vs. Alliance	W	33	15
18	2/11	Vs. Minerva	W	39	19
19	2/13	Vs. Canton South	W	36	21