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Streaky momentum: North girls edge past scrappy Lovejoy in near upset
By Richard C. White, rwhite@starlocalnews.com
LUCAS -- In a game that featured several deep, unanswered runs by both squads, the McKinney North girls outlasted a resilient Lovejoy team 40-32 Tuesday night on the road.
"It was a physical, hard fought district game," said Michael Oldham, North head basketball coach. "This is what it takes to win district championships, as you'll have some close ones like this. I'm proud of my kids for how they reacted. You got to find ways to win when you only score 40 every once in a while and we did that tonight."
Momentum shifted wildly between both teams multiple times in the district matchup that saw North improve to 15-3 and Lovejoy fall to 6-11 on the season.
The game was tied in the final minute before North pulled away with eight free throws for the victory.
"At halftime that was pretty much the theme of our talk, getting to the paint, to the free throw line," Oldham said. "We only shot two in the first half. We knew that was someplace we needed to get to, to open up the perimeter a little bit."
Both defenses had their day throughout much of the opening quarter, keeping the other's offense in check to start. The Lady Leopards jumped out to a 4-0 lead, which served as the game's only points for the majority of the first quarter.
North made its first basket of the night in the first quarter's final three minutes. While it took a while for them to get rolling, when the Lady Bulldogs did get on the board, they were hard to stop.
North scored the next 12 straight points to close out the quarter, 12-4. The run concluded with North guard Alexis Mason making a stunning three-pointer from half-court on an inbound as time expired in the first quarter.
Mason and teammate Chanterria Jackson were pivotal to North's victory.
"Chanterria had mismatches all night, regardless of who was on her," Oldham said. "We ran a lot of isolation to her. And Mason handled the ball well when we needed it handled, and got a couple steals right when we needed them. She did her usual great job of running the team."
Lovejoy would climb back to keep it close before the half, cutting it to 12-11 on a Stephanie Lewerenz layup late in the second quarter. Lovejoy would then tie it up with a minute remaining on a Lewerenz free throw.
In addition to the contributions from Lewerenz, Branch was also proud of the strong play from guards Paige Eberhart and Shani Rainey and forward Samantha Odom.
"I thought Paige shot the ball real well and Sam did a great job on the boards," Branch said. "Shani also did a good job staying aggressive. Overall I'm pleased with our effort."
The Lady Bulldogs would reclaim the lead in the last 10 seconds as Jackson sank a jumper for the 14-12 North halftime lead in what was a wildly inconsistent half for both teams.
"It's important to be consistent," Oldham said. "You don't get away with wins on the road like this very many nights. I kind of consider us a little bit lucky. We have to maintain our runs and our flow. It was a lot of in-bounding tonight, which isn't our style."
The roles were reversed in the third quarter. Just as North had busted through for a strong finish to the first quarter, scoring several unanswered baskets, so too, did Lovejoy to start the second half. The Lady Leopards put up nine straight on the board to recapture the lead, 21-14.
"We're a good team," Branch said. "They're learning a new system, and I think our girls are starting to come together. It's just a matter of them learning my system and I feel they're doing that real well. Once we get the right pieces in the right order, we're going to be tough to compete with."
Jocelyn Scott scored North's first points of the second half on a pair of free throws. That proved to be all the Lady Bulldogs would need to go on yet another run, this time an 8-0 streak to grab the lead at 22-21. North led 24-21 heading into the fourth quarter.
With only a minute remaining, Jackson broke a 32-all tie with a pair of free throws. The Lady Bulldogs would live off the charity stripe the rest of the way, scoring six more points, four from Mason and two more from Jackson for the 40-32 final.
"This type of game, I think it shows we got a lot of character," Oldham said. "When times get tough, we're not going to quit. We're going to buckle down, play defense, rebound and win ugly if that's what we got to do."
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