Girls basketball: LP locks down on defense to beat Southland
Published 5:45 pm Saturday, January 23, 2016
Lyle-Pacelli’s Kendal Truckeniller shoots in the first half against Southland in Pacelli Saturday night. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
The Lyle-Pacelli girls basketball team didn’t establish itself immediately, but it showed in the second half why it’s ranked No. 7 in Class A as it used its defense to stymie Southland in a 55-28 win in Pacelli Gym Saturday.
Sydney Bendtsen hit an early second half three to pull the Rebels within 32-21, but Southland didn’t score again until the game was out of reach as LP used a 10-0 run to put the game away. LP (15-3 overall) haled the Rebels (6-8 overall) to seven points in the second half.
Southland’s Kaysie Allen scrambles for a loose ball in the first half against Lyle-Pacelli Saturday afternoon at Pacelli. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
“When we play like that, we’re a whole different basketball team than we’ve been lately,” LP head coach Justin Morris said. “We locked down in the second half defensively. We wanted to be patient with the basketball, work our sets and break them down and that’s what we did.”
Sarah Holtz tallied 15 points, nine rebounds and four assists for LP, which has now won three straight games after falling to Goodhue, which is ranked No. 1 in Class A, and Plainview-Elgin-Millville, which is ranked No. 1 in Class AA, in a span of seven days.
“The atmosphere is definitely changing,” Holtz said. “It’s much more team orientated and we’re definitely picking it up. It feels a lot like last year. We had a little rough patch and we’re coming out of it now.”
Morris is hoping his team is clicking at the right time as well. He said the Athletics had to make some key changes after dropping a few games this season.
“We were humbled. We lost to three teams, but those teams were all ranked number one or two in the state,” Morris said. “We’ve learned some things from those games and we’ve exposed some things. Now we’re making adjustments and the sky is the limit if they come together. It feels like they’re starting to gel.”
Southland’s Allilson Bottema dribbles between Lyle-Pacelli’s Abigail Bollingberg and Sarah Holtz during the first half Saturday afternoon at Pacelli. Eric johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Bentsen had eight points for the Rebels.
Southland 18 7 — 25
LP 30 28 — 58
LP scoring: Sarah Holtz, 15; Brooke Walter, 11; Courtney Walter, 7; Kristi Fett, 6; Olivia Christianson, 5; Kendal Truckenmiller, 4; Lucy Nelson, 4; Caitlin Roberts, 3; Abby Bollingberg, 2; Faith King, 1; free throws: 68 percent (13-for-19); rebounds: 37 (Holtz, 9); turnovers: 9
Southland scoring: Sydney Bendtsen, 8; McKendry Kennedy, 6; Olivia Gray, 2; Kelsie Lamp, 2; Allison Bottema, 2; Meredith Heimer, 2; Mikayla Ida Emanuel, 2; Madison Wolff, 1; free throws: 83 percent (5-for-6); rebounds: 31; turnovers: 22
