Lady Eagles bow out of tournament early

Thursday, 19 January 2012 11:19

(Haleigh Gross drives to the basket against Angola during the NECC tournament. Gross led the Lady Eagles with seven points, she also added two rebounds and had a steal.) photo by hiatt

by Don Hiatt
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The Lady Eagles started the NECC conference tournament by traveling to Angola to face the Hornets.
Angola started the game with a three-pointer and went on a 10-0 run. The Lady Eagles finally made it on the scoreboard at 3:15 left in the first quarter from a basket by Haleigh Gross, assisted by Lacey Pulley. Gross was also fouled on the shot and made the one from the line making it 10-3 Lady Hornets. Angola went down the floor and made another basket, but then fouled Pulley who made both of her free throws. Angola would make another basket before the first quarter was over making it 14-5 Angola. “We put in a new two three zone tonight,” said Coach Jamie Perlich. “I was really proud of how the girls started with that tonight.”
Angola started the second quarter with six straight points before Gross would hit a three-pointer for the Lady Eagles. Chandler Blake then would get fouled and make the second of two free throws. The Lady Hornets answered back with a three-pointer. Savannah Labenz would then go to the three-throw line for the Lady Eagles making the first of two. The Hornets made another basket to end the half 28-10 Angola. “We had too many turnovers tonight,” explained Coach Perlich. “You have to give Angola credit for that.”
The third quarter started out hard for the Lady Eagles with turning the ball over and Angola hitting a three- pointer off the turnover. Gross would answer back with a bucket of her own. The Hornets made another basket before Gross and Blake would hit two back-to-back buckets for the Lady Eagles. Then Angola would go on a 12-0 run before Blake would get two more on the scoreboard for the Lady Eagles. Angola would extend their lead to 47-18 at the end of the quarter. “I thought Katie Monk did a good job tonight,” stated Coach Perlich. “Her first time getting a lot of varsity minutes and she did a good job of boxing their big girl out.”
The Lady Eagles opened the fourth quarter with a three-pointer from Gross. Angola would make two from the three-throw line and a bucket, before Labenz would make a two-pointer for the Lady Eagles. Angola then would go on an 8-0 run before freshman Montana Martin would drain a three- pointer for the Lady Eagles. Angola would make the second of two from the free- throw line and Martin would answer back with a two-point bucket. The Lady Hornets would make one more two-point bucket before the game ended 65-25 Angola. “Labenz got some confidence tonight,” said Coach Perlich. “Offensively she has been struggling and for her to come in and hit that bucket was big for her.”