LE ROY — A “lack of consistency” seemed to be the culprit in the Crest High Lady Lancers’ 59-28 loss to Southern Coffey County High Tuesday night in Le Roy, according to head coach Ben Vaughn.
Of course, SCC’s speed and unrelenting full-court press didn’t help the matter. The Titans hit hard from the beginning, starting off with a 6-0 run. Kurston Gilliland had the first Lancer points of the game — a free throw with just under four minutes left in the first quarter. Some quick points from SCC’s Kalyn Deal and Sarah Webb had the Lancers on their heels, 18-4, going into the second.
“We shot the ball much better,” Lady Titan coach Jeff True said, noting SCC went 27 of 54, 50 percent, from the field. “The girls did a nice job defensively. We put a lot of pressure on them that led to quite a few turnovers.”
Despite the fact that Gilliland got into the game during the end of the second half, it wasn’t enough for a full Crest comeback. Chanae Newkirk hit a long 3-pointer for the Titans at the 5:40 mark, changing the tone, and the momentum, in their favor for the remainder of the game. The Titans went into the locker room energized, the Lancers went in doubtful.
“We don’t have any consistency. We end up doing some things well and some games we don’t do anything well,” Vaughn said.
The only thing that seemed to remain consistent for the Lady Lancers was the ball rolling off the rim in most attempted field goals, and the third quarter was no different. The game opened up for SCC. They scored 24 for the quarter, compared to the Lancers’ four. SCC’s Webb and Deal were all over the Lancers. Deal had multiple steals for scores on the full-court press. Breanna Isch began to heat up in the third as well — she hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to make the third-quarter score 54-22 Titans.
The running clock in the fourth made for a quick end to the Lancers’ slow evening. Gilliland hit a 2-pointer with 20 seconds left in the contest, one last breath of a struggling offensive effort.
“We didn’t help on defense, and that left the backside open time after time,” Vaughn said. “We just didn’t have the fight in us.”
Gilliland led the Lancers in scoring with 12 points, followed by Brytton Strickler with eight.
As for the Titans, Webb contributed 16 points, which led the team. Isch made 13 points, and Deal had 11. Webb and Isch each had six rebounds. Kalyn Deal had six steals. Martyna Hegwald dished out four assists.
Southern Coffey County’s junior varsity won 21-9 in two quarters. Amber Emmons scored seven points, followed by Brittne Brite with six for the Lady Titans.
Crest (4-14-4-6—28)
SCC (18-12-24-5—50)
Crest (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Strickler 3-2-2-8, Sherman 1-2-1-4, Gilliland 4-4-2-12, LaCross 0-1-0-1, Seabolt 0-1-4-1. Kellar 0-2-2-2. TOTALS: 8-12-11-28.
SCC (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Newkirk 3-0-1-6, Deal 4/1-0-0-11, Hegwald 3-0-3-6, Webb 7-2-2-16, Brite 1-1-2-3, Alumbaugh 2-0-2-4, Isch 5/1-0-3-13. TOTALS: 25/2-3-11-59.
Lady Titans prevail over Crest girls
