MIDDLETOWN, Ind. —
With both teams scrapping for loose balls and rebounds often, the second game of the first-round girls basketball sectional Tuesday night at Shenandoah seemed destined to become a backyard brawl.
And as is so often the case, the more experienced team came out on top. A sloppy but hard-fought contest turned into little more than a war of attrition late as finally Lapel ran out of gas, falling to Wapahani 49-33.
“It was a tough game,” Lapel coach Kevin Brattain said. “They played us really hard with probably a little more discipline and we just couldn’t put the ball in the basket down the stretch.”
However, an inability to score was not evident in only Lapel’s play.
Both teams struggled to find any kind of offense early, shooting less than 30 percent from the field in the first quarter, which ended with Wapahani leading 8-7.
After trailing by as many as five points in the second quarter, the Bulldogs rallied. Two consecutive baskets from Daniele Burnelle topped an 8-0 run as Lapel took an 18-14 lead. However, in a sign of things to come, the Raiders’ Maggie Snider buried a three-pointer on the next possession, keeping her team within range. The half ended with Lapel leading 20-19.
Snider’s next three-pointer, which found the net with exactly two minutes remaining in the third quarter, proved a pivotal play. The Raiders took a 30-27 edge and did not trail for the remainder of the game. A Paige Williamson jumper gave Wapahani a five-point lead and a Snider free throw at quarter’s end made it 33-27 Raiders.
“They were up for a while, and then it kind of turned into a back-and-forth game,” Wapahani coach Terry Bales said. “Finally we were able to hit a few shots and get the advantage.”
Bales said his team had expected a rough-and-tumble game after watching his team beat Lapel 44-32 just two weeks ago.
“We just played each other not too long ago, so we knew it would be intense and fairly physical,” he said. “We’ve got to clean some things up, but we’re playing well right now.”
The Raiders were efficient with the lead in the fourth quarter, running up a 10-point lead by the halfway mark. Again, Snider was instrumental, hitting on three chances and dishing out three more assists in the final frame. Fittingly, she put on the finishing touches, with a steal and layup at the final buzzer.
Snider finished the game with 19 points, four assists and three rebounds.
Kaitlyn Dobbins led Lapel with 11 points. Bulldogs point guard Kristen Rich, who was impressive early, finished with seven points and five boards. Rich fell in the fourth quarter with what initially appeared
to be a serious leg injury but returned to finish the game.
Brattain noted that the physicality of the game was not something his team was always prepared to endure.
“It’s kind of been a problem for us all year,” he said. “When teams really go after us, we can’t play through it. We have a young team and sometimes we let things get to us.”
Lapel ends its season with a 9-13 overall mark.
In the final evaluation, Brattain said his team had a good year, considering its relative inexperience. The Bulldogs are scheduled to lose just one player to graduation, with a starting five comprised of one freshman and three sophomores.
“We had an OK year,” he said. “The kids are emotional and upset, but that’s the way it’s supposed to be. Tonight was just one of those long nights.”
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Related Photos
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Lapel forward Mackenzie Boles takes a jump shot during the first quarter of the Bulldogs Sectional game against Wapahani at Shenandoah High School. David Humphrey / For The Herald Bulletin
Discussion
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