Lady Leps Survive Spartan Attack 51-48 in First Round
Louisville 51, Boardman 48
It wasn’t pretty and their was no fanciness to it, but in the end Senior Alyssa Jones was not going to let the Lady Leopards suffer a one and done like last year. Jones pulled down two rebounds off missed free throws in the final seconds to edge Louisville (19-2) past Boardman (8-11) 51-48 in the sectional semifinals Saturday afternoon at Alliance High School. Jones also led the Leps with 16 points, while Brianna Libertore added 12 and Lauren Bricker dropped in 10.
The duo of Lauren Bricker and Brianna Libertore combined for 22 points to complement Alyssa Jones’ 16 in a first-round win over Boardman.
The Lady Leps came flying out of the gate. Jones and Molly Brown both nailed three-balls, Bricker fed Libertore for an easy lay in, and Louisville held Boardman scoreless in the first three and a half minutes. But the Spartans offense answered back penetrating the Leopards defense and invading the basket for 10 straight points. After a few more minutes of battle, the game was knotted at 12 after one.
The Lady Leps held the Spartans to just one field goal in the second quarter, Amanda Volosin’s second of 3 three-pointers for the game. On offense, Louisville spread the ball around and four different Lady Leopards contributed to building a touchdown-like 25-18 lead at halftime.
In the second half, the Spartans refused to surrender. After all, Boardman was 29-0 in tournament openers under coach Ron Moschella coming into the game. The Spartan second-half invasion was led by Brooke Meenachan who poured in 9 of her game-high 19 points in the third quarter. With just under a minute left in the third period, Boardman chopped the Leopards lead down to just two points.
The Louisville Seniors wouldn’t let a frustrated Lady Leopards team fall apart though. Bricker scored 8 of her 10 poitns in the final 9 minutes and canned two three-balls within the next couple possessions to extend Louisville’s lead to 43-37. However, Boardman’s pressure forced several Louisville turnovers and the Leopards only held a 47-46 lead with 25.2 seconds remaining.
The free throw line had not been a kind host to its Leopards guests all night long. The Lady Leps had made just 2 of 8 shots from the charity stripe through the first 31 minutes of the game, but that didn’t phase junior point guard Mackenzie Storlie. She hit two free throws to give the Leps a 49-46 advantage before Missy Demarinus drove to the hole to help the Spartans cut Louisville’s lead to the slimmest of margins.
Another foul by Boardman sent Storlie back to the line. She rimmed out on the front end of the one-and-one, but Jones barreled across the lane and beat two Spartans to the board. They quickly fouled her and she made her first free throw to earn her a second try. The shot ricochet off the back of the rim, but like a piercing arrow Jones stormed in to grab her own rebound piercing the heart of the Spartans. She whipped the ball to Bricker who tossed it to Storlie as precious seconds ticked off the clock.
They finally hacked Storlie with 4.7 seconds left and she went to the line for a double bonus opportunity. The first shot swished home, but the second bounced around the rim and came off. Allison Borts came grabbed the rebound for Boardman and heaved the ball to Volosin. Volosin put up a desperate volley-ball line length shot that missed everything, including being before the buzzer. The Lady Leopards celebrated their survival and move to 5-0 against Federal League teams this year.
The Lady Leps will rematch against the Perry Panthers Thursday night at 6:00 at Alliance High School. Louisville escaped with a 50-44 win over the Panthers earlier this year.
Louisville Vs. Boardman Tournament Pictures
Louisville Vs. Boardman Game Statistics
LEOPARDS: Jones 6 2-5 16, Libertore 6 0-1 12, Bricker 4 0-0 10, Brown 2 1-4 6, Lemmon 2 0-0 4, Storlie 0 3-5 3, TOTALS 20 6-15 51.
3PT (5): Bricker (2), Jones (2), Brown (1)
TEAM FT: 6-15 40%
SPARTANS: Meenachan 7 4-5 19, Lepke 4 0-2 8, Volosin 3 0-0 9, Borts 4 0-0 8, DeMarinis 1 0-0 2, Kuczek 0 2-2 2, TOTALS 19 6-9 48.
3PT (3): Volosin (3)
TEAM FT: 6-9 67%
NEXT GAME: The Lady Leps will continue play at Alliance High School Thursday at 6:00 PM when they play a rematch from the regular season against the Perry Panthers. Louisville won the first meeting 50-44 back on December 8.
