Lady Eagles Soar Past Rival Rams in Second Half for 37-23 Victory

By Dave Gosselin Thursday, February 02, 2012

Defense was the name of the game as neighboring rivals Jamestown and Lafayette battled it out on the hardwood Thursday night in girls basketball. The Eagles came from behind and scored a hard-fought 37-23 win over the Rams.

Jamestown (11-7, 10-6 BRD) scored the first two buckets of the game but saw the Rams respond with three field goals and a free throw to take a 7-4 lead with two minutes to play in the opening period. Krista Ferrell was the catalyst for Lafayette (8-11, 6-11 BRD) as she scored her team’s final six points. The first of her final two buckets came on a fast break lay-up after she forced a turnover and the second on a solid first step move from the top of the key and pulled up in the lane and drained the eight foot floater.

The Eagles turned the ball over five times in nine possessions and snapped the cold streak on Aaliyah Lyttle’s dribble drive shot off the glass. Jamestown trailed 9-6 after the first period.

The two teams combined for 12 turnovers in the second period and saw the two squads total seven points and a tie score, 11-11, heading into the locker room at halftime. The Rams finished the second period 1-for-8 from the field while the Eagles were just 2-for-15. Both teams stepped up and played solid pressure and man-to-man defense. The offenses were forced into to taking off-balanced shots and neither team could get it going on the offensive end.

Jamestown’s defense played a little better than the Rams in the second half. The Eagles found themselves with better looks at the basket and were able to convert offensively. Lyttle tied the game at 13-all on an eight foot jumper with 5:25 left in the third. Bryanna Watson gave Jamestown its first lead since 4-0 when she hit one of two from the free throw line 33 seconds later, a lead they would not relinquish.

The Eagles Katie Myers was the difference in the final two minutes of the third as she scored on a turn-around lay-up and did a fantastic job boxing her defender out for a rebound and hit the stick-back.  She helped give her team a 22-15 lead heading into the final stanza.

Both team’s defenses continued its solid play as neither team scored in the first three minutes of the fourth. Ferrell cut Jamestown’s lead to five after forcing a turnover and going the length of the court for the easy lay-in. The Eagles countered with four straight points of its own. Nissa Chillers connected from the baseline off the glass with 4:23 to go and Watson hit from the elbow less than a minute later to extend the Eagles lead to 26-17.

Jamestown hit 9-of-13 free throws in the final 2:28 to seal the win.

Lyttle led the Eagles with 10 points while Ferrell led the Rams with 12.

“We create our offense off of our defense,” Jamestown Head Coach Mary Glisan said after the win. “We battled the whole time and we’ve struggled from the field all year but our defense was solid tonight.”

“Jamestown played great pressure defense tonight,” said Rams Coach P.J. Piggott. “We forced some shots and sometimes nerves play a role when we are playing our rivals. It was one of those games where whoever settled down first was probably going to win. Both teams played sound defensively tonight.”

Jamestown 37  Lafayette 23

Jamestown     6   5   11   15 - 37  
Lafayette        9   2     4     8 -  23

Jamestown (11-7, 10-6 BRD) – Lyttle 10, Katie Myers 9, Jacque Hecker 6, Chillers 5, Watson 5, Courtnie Williams 2

Lafayette (8-11, 6-11 BRD)– Ferrell 12, Brown 6, Deborah Allison 2, Baileigh Crabtree 2, Desiree Jones 1