Sat Feb 11 2012
It’s not often that Frankfort High girls basketball team plays a squad that can match its team speed and turnover-inducing defense. Thursday night at F.D. Wilkinson Arena, the Lady Panthers met such a team.
Like FHS, Louisville Eastern has never seen a backcourt it didn’t want to terrorize – and in a game of momentum shifts, ball pressure proved the difference.
The Lady Eagles (12-11) forced the Lady Panthers (9-14) into three turnovers in the final minute of play to break open a tie game and win 50-46.
The backbreaker came when Eastern’s Lauren Murphy forced a turnover and was fouled with two seconds on the clock and the Lady Eagles ahead by three.
FHS’ prior possession also ended with a steal off the half-court trap when Asia Nichols came up with the ball and took it in for a layup with 12 seconds left in regulation that put the Lady Eagles ahead 49-46. Just 50 seconds earlier, Nichols had hit a 3-pointer to the tie the game 46-46 for three of her game-high 26 points.
“I can’t fault our girls,” FHS coach Jody Hellard said. “I know we played our hearts out. We made some youthful mistakes at the end of the game that we can’t afford to make to win close games against good teams, but the effort was always there.”
Frankfort High’s Sheree Brown led her team to the verge of victory in the fourth quarter. The sophomore forward scored 10 of the Lady Panthers’ 11 points in the quarter, including a three-point play to tie the game, 41-41, with four minutes to play and two free throws that capped off an 8-2 run which gave Frankfort a 46-43 edge with 1:14 on the clock.
“Sheree played a good, solid game,” Hellard said.
“We played as hard as we could play against a team that was much, much bigger than us and just as quick as us. A break here, a break there, we win the game.”
After going into halftime trailing 24-23, the Lady Panthers came out strong to begin the third quarter, outscoring Eastern in the first five minutes of the second half 12-0.
The run included a jumper from Abby Green, two layups by Shauntae Brown and another by Malaka Frank.
The momentum began to shift, however, when the Lady Eagles amped up the ball pressure trailing 35-24. Eastern forced Frankfort into six turnovers in the last three minutes of the third and scored 10 straight points to cut the lead to 35-34 entering the final quarter of play.
The absence of two starters for much of the second half didn’t help the Lady Panthers. Shanae Brown and Mattie Hutcherson sat out most of the second half with injuries.
The pair both contributed to the Lady Panthers’ first-half surge. After Eastern opened the game with a 7-0 run, Frankfort responded to pull within a possession at the end of the quarter with the score 13-10.
A 3-pointer by Sheree Brown tied the game at 15 a minute and a half into the second quarter, and Shauntae Brown gave FHS a 19-15 lead with four straight points off steals.
Eastern took the edge going into halftime on a 3-pointer by Katie Sutherland, but Green’s baseline jumper at the buzzer made it a one-point game at the intermission.
Frank led FHS in points in the first half with five.
“I’ve got all the confidence in her in the world,” Hellard said. “For a sixth grader she did awesome.”
Frankfort travels to Shawnee for a 3 pm. game Saturday.
EASTERN (50) – Joy Finner 8, Johanna Hamilton 7, Alexys Nash 1, Lauren Murphy 3, Asia Nichols 26, Katie Sutherland 3, Lyndsey Woods 2.
FRANKFORT (46) – Sheree Brown 13, Shauntae Brown 11, Shanae Brown 4, Abby Green 8, Nakela Cleveland 1, Jasmine Washington 2, Malaka Frank 7.
Comments
By Posting to this site, you agree to our Terms of Service Be polite.
Inappropriate posts may be removed.
State-Journal.com doesn't necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post.
Login above or Register to comment.
0 Total Comments Home | Back
Copyright Frankfort Publishing Co., LLC 1995-2011. All Rights Reserved.
Content may not be republished without the expressed written consent of the publisher.
Content may not be republished without the expressed written consent of the publisher.
Dix Communications