Girls Basketball Prevails Over Salem in Overtime Thriller
Louisville 44, Salem 38, OT
The Louisville Lady Leopards outscored the visiting Salem Quakers 11-5 in overtime to earn a 44-38 victory in Girls Basketball action Saturday. With the victory, Louisville is now 2-2 overall and 1-1 in conference play this season.
Abby Beaver scored 6 of her team-high 13 points in the extra period to lead the Lady Leopards. Emily Hollifield also scored 4 of her 12 points in overtime and Sarah Lairson finished the day in double digits with 10 points.
Louisville flew out of the gate to take a 15-7 advantage after the first quarter of play. However, the Lady Leopards lead was trimmed to just a single point by halftime and at the end of the third.
The Lady Quakers managed to knot the game at 33-33 with a few minutes left in the contest and a defensive struggled ensued as both teams traded several possessions without a score. Regulation ended with Hollifield forcing a Salem air-ball and Lairson stealing a rebound away from a Quaker player as the buzzer sounded.
In overtime, Louisville managed to get key buckets from Beaver and Hollifield to take a 37-33 advantage with 2:04 left. The Lady Leopards played defense and hit 7 of 9 free throws down the stretch to clinch the win.
The Lady Quakers were led by Chloe Cheresne who scored a game-high 20 points and had a team-high 9 rebounds. Olivia Stiff also dropped in 7 points & added 3 steals and Leah Menegos scored 5 points & also recorded 3 steals.
A key difference in the contest came on the glass. Louisville out-rebounded Salem 39-24 for the game which included a 17-9 margin on the offensive boards. Grace Jackson led the Lady Leopards with a game-high 15 rebounds and Sabryna Benzel & Lairson also snagged 7 a piece.
With the victory, the Lady Leopards have now defeated the Lady Quakers in their last 9 meetings which also includes the last 5 games at Louisville. LHS now leads the all-time series 10-5 overall and 6-2 at home. This is the second straight time that these two squads have gone to overtime with the Lady Leopards also winning last year 47-42 at home. Louisville has now won their last seven overtime contests dating back to 1993.
UP NEXT: The Lady Leopards will next travel to Canton South to take on the Wildcats on Saturday, December 20. JV will begin at 12:00 PM and Varsity will follow at approximately 1:30 PM.
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