Strong defensive effort leads Lamar girls past Leake Academy

Published 11:10 pm Thursday, November 29, 2018

Ambreah Waters seemed to be heating up for Lamar Thursday evening. Then two fouls forced her to sit during the entire second quarter.

Her eight first-quarter points ended up being her only points on the night, but a strong Lady Raiders defensive effort helped Lamar to a 31-24 win against a Leake Academy team that’s expected to compete for a state championship in MAIS Class AAA.

“We’ve lost two this year, which I’m not afraid of,” Lamar head coach Josh Sherer said. “We amped up the schedule on purpose. We want to play Leake. They’re one of the best, maybe even the best team in the MAIS right now. Now, their best shooter (senior guard Sydni Tangle) didn’t play, and the other Tangle girl (Kelsey) got hurt and didn’t play, so that’s a difference-maker, too. 

“But defensively, we were about as tough that game as you could have possibly gotten. That’s one thing that everything hinged on last year, and we have to get back to that, because it creates offense for us. I don’t think we were very good offensively. I do think we did a decent job taking care of the basketball. They do a great job of running and jumping and creating chaos in that. We just have to continue to create some offense on that.”

Lamar jumped out to a 12-7 lead after the first quarter, with freshman Debreasha Powe scoring four points in addition to Waters’ eight. After Waters got her second foul, she was forced to go to the bench, and Leake Academy kept pace with Lamar before taking a 19-18 lead at the break off a 3-pointer by Miriam Prince with 13 seconds remaining in the second quarter.

Though Waters was able to play for most of the second half, Sherer said having to sit the second quarter probably halted the momentum she built with her eight-point opening frame.

“It’s huge,” Sherer said. “That’s both sides of the coin with her. She’s a thousand miles an hour, and yet, sometimes she plays so hard she gets into foul trouble. She’s coming off an ACL (injury), and when she gets going in a game like this, we want to let her roll, and then the momentum gets taken out because she gets into foul trouble. … I thought she played great. She played hard, and she did a better job in the second half, and even though she got her third and her fourth, they were later, and she was able to manage it.”

Waters said there was frustration in having to sit a quarter, not only because it halts momentum she built up early, but also because she feels like she’s hurting the team if she can’t be on the court.

“My energy and intensity on defense creates problems, but I can’t do anything on the bench, and as a senior, it doesn’t look good when you’re on the bench in the second quarter,” Waters said.

In the third quarter, the Lamar defense held Leake Academy to just one free throw while Powe, Isabella Sherer and Skylar Norman all hit 3-pointers to give the Lady Raiders a 27-20 advantage going into the fourth quarter. Both teams managed just four points in the fourth quarter.

On the night, Leake Academy was just 4 of 15 from the free-throw line. Molly Davis scored eight points for the Lady Rebels, while Prince finished with six. 

“It was a really competitive game, and it’s a lot of fun when you get to compete at a high level against a really good team,” Leake Academy head coach Amanda Hatch said. “Credit to Lamar, they really just guarded us to death.”

Like Sherer, Hatch said going against Lamar, which played in last year’s AAAA, Division II state championship game, can only help her team going forward.

“It just makes you better,” Hatch said. “We love to play anyone we can play, because it prepares us for the playoffs. It’s great that we get to play them early, and we’ll play them against next week, and I’m looking forward to it.”

Powe had a game-high 11 points for Lamar, which rose to 8-2 on the season. 

WATERS’ HEALTH

Waters suffered an ACL injury in her left leg during the MAIS Overall tournament last season against Jackson Academy, which was also Lamar’s final game of the 2017-18 season. It forced her to miss all of soccer season, and she’s just now getting into playing shape.

“Right now my knee is tight, but it’s like that after every game,” Waters said following Thursday’s win.

Even though sitting in the second quarter took away her momentum, Waters said she was happy to get a win against an opponent the caliber of Leake Academy.

“It’s gives us fuel to keep going,” Waters said. “Everyone doubted us last year, and now, things are expected of us. Beating Leake shows that we’re still working hard and helps with our confidence. As long as we work hard and play good defense, we can win.”

BOYS: LEAKE ACADEMY 72, LAMAR 49

Demarcus Powe had 13 points for Lamar, and William Lamar added eight, but Leake Academy had three double-digit scorers as the Rebels won comfortably.

Will-Lawson Harkins and Clayton Malone both scored 20 points for Leake Academy, and Ben Harrison added 10 points.

UP NEXT

Lamar will host Park Place Christian Friday, while Leake Academy will play at Adams County Christian School Saturday.