Lady Leopards Defeat Central on Senior Night 44-40

By Leopard Nation · Published February 15, 2012 · Updated February 16, 2012

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Louisville 44, Central Catholic 40

The Lady Leopards used an 11-0 fourth quarter run to pull ahead before hanging on for a 44-40 victory over the Canton Central Catholic Lady Crusaders on Senior Night. Clara Lemmon led the way with 13 points, while Seniors Molly Brown and Mackenzie Storlie each scored 9 a piece in Wednesday night’s regular season finale at Louisville High School.

Louisville started the contest by getting a quick three-pointer from Storlie. The game’s pace was slowed down after that and Louisville etched out to a 6-0 lead. The Leps held Central off the board until 2:22 left in the quarter when Hannah Miller scored from the corner of downtown. Lizzy Weber would then hit another triple for the Crusaders to knot the score at 6-6 with under a minute to play in the opening quarter. But on the other end Storlie found Lemmon who tapped it off the glass and in just as the buzzer sounded to give Louisville an 8-6 advantage at the end of one.

The Leopards broke out to a double digit advantage after a 10-0 run to start the second quarter. Storlie again ignited the Leopards with a swat on defense, an assist to Lemmon, and a solo steal & score. Her and Libertore each had four points in a quarter that also saw the Leopards grab 12 of their 32 rebounds on the night. 18-6 Louisville.

Like a broken record, the Lady Leopards again shutdown Central from the field until 2:22 remaining in the second quarter. But then the lid came off as the girls in green outscored Louisville 8-2 for the rest of the quarter, including 3 buckets in the finals 52 seconds of the half. Central had cut the lead to 20-15 at the break.

Out of the locker room, Central continued to dig into their deficit. Katie Nixdorf led the Crusader charge by scoring 9 of her game-high 13 points in the period. Louisville retaliated with buckets by Libertore and Lemmon, and also three-pointers from Brown and Angela Risaliti. Nevertheless Central kept battling and cut the lead to 32-31 with 38 seconds left in the third quarter.

But it was Senior Night and the Lady Leopards were determined to hold their lead…and they did. Not once did they trail in their final home game of the year and again Louisville exercised deja vu with a 10-0 run. Lemmon scored 8 points during the run and Louisville again shutdown Central for over five minutes to start the final period.

After the run, the Crusaders used baskets by Molly Gaskell, Miller, and Weber to creep back to within four of Louisville. Gaskell would finish the night with 10 points for Central.

Last year, Storlie hit five free throws in the final minute to help lift Louisville to a 46-40 win at Central. This time she knocked down a pair from the line with 25.4 remaining to give the Leopards a 44-38 cushion. Although the final seconds dragged on, the outcome was never in doubt after that as Louisville glided to a 44-40 win. The victory caps off a 16-4 season that saw the Lady Leopards go undefeated at home for the first time since the 2007-08 season.

I would like to give a personal shout-out to our Senior Lady Leopards basketball players: Molly Brown, Brianna Libertore, Amber Minster, Catelyn Radalia, Angela Risaliti, and Mackenzie Storlie! Thank You all for making the past couple years of Lady Leopards basketball a fun-filled, exciting, and championship atmosphere! Congratulations on winning NBC and good luck in the tournament and beyond!

STATISTICS

CRUSADERS: Nixdorf 6 1-2 13, Gaskell 2 6-6 10, Lindesmith 2 1-2 6, Weber 2 0-0 6, H. Miller 2 0-0 5. TOTAL 14 8-10 40.

TEAM FG: 14-43 33%

TEAM 3PT: 4-19 21%

TEAM FT: 8-10 80%

LEOPARDS: C. Lemmon 5 3-5 13, Brown 3 2-2 9, Storlie 3 2-3 9, Libertore 3 2-2 8, Risaliti 1 2-3 5. TOTALS 15 11-15 44.

TEAM FG: 15-45 33%

TEAM 3PT: 3-10 30% | Brown (1), Risaliti (1), Storlie (1)

TEAM FT: 11-15 73%

Team 1-2-3-4-Total

Central Catholic 6-9-16-9–40

Louisville 8-12-14-10–44

Rebounds: Louisville 32-25

Fouls: Central 13-8

Turnovers: Central 14-10

Records:

NEXT UP: The Lady Leps will begin tournament play against the Massillon Tigers at Walsh University on Saturday, February 18 at 1:00 PM. The JV season is now complete, great season girls!

PICTURES

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JV REPORT

Rachel Zeller 3-Pointer at the Buzzer

Louisville 33, Central Catholic 23

Central jumped out to a 9-6 lead after the first quarter, but 47 seconds later was up on Central 12-9. The Lady Leps didn’t look back in outscoring Central 14-4 in the second quarter and 9-5 in the third quarter. Their stellar defense allowed the Crusaders just 23 points. Hollyann Mullett led all scorers with 8, while Mackenzie Rankin and Rachel Zeller added 7, and Emily Nees also contributed 6. The JV squad finishes their season 15-5 and will look to carry that momentum into Varsity play next year.