The Lakeland women's basketball team hosted the Jamestown Jayhawks in non-league action tonight and came away with a well-played 69-59 victory. With the win, the Lakers evened the season series with the Jayhawks and improved their record to 5-2 on the season. The first half was a tightly contested game as neither team was able to take control. The Lakers used a patient offense where they used the clock to set up their offense while the Jayhawks tried to press and create scoring opportunities by speeding up the game. Both teams had relative success and the score was tied at 15 after the 1st quarter before the Lakers scored the last 5 points of the 2nd quarter to take a 29-26 lead into the break. The Lakers scored the 5 points in the last 20 seconds of the quarter as Monetta Hilory connected for a 3-pointer before the Lakers forced a Jayhawks turnover in their defensive half. Lakeland then ran an inbounds play with 5 seconds left that set Kanija Kimbrough up for a driving layup to close out the half.
The 3rd quarter was pivotal in the game. After the Jayhawks tied the score at 29, Joh'niqua Clay sank a pair of free throws. The teams then exchanged mised shots and turnovers before Monetta Hilory scored on a driving layup. The Lakers then turned up their defensive pressure. After forcing a Jayhawk turnover, Clay hit a floating bank shot for a 35-31 lead. Gabriella Moore than stole the ball and fed Hilory for another layup. Kanija Kimbrough then stole the ball and later hit a turnaround jumper in the lane. Jamestown would then score and the Lakers would committ a turnover. Lakeland's Kimbrough responded immediately as she stole the ball and took it in for a layup to give the Lakers a 41-33 lead. On the next Jayhawk possession, Hilory would steal the ball and take it in for a layup. Lakeland's defense would continue the pressure and force another Jayhawk turnover that Kennedy Coleman converted on a deep 2-point shot giving the Lakers a commanding 45-33 lead with about 3 minutes to play in the quarter. The Jayhawks would trim their deficit to 8 points before Arianna Vera grabbed an offensive rebound and fed Kanija Kimbrough for a layup putting the Lakers up 47-37 after 3 quarters.
In the 4th quarter, the teams would trade baskets early before the Lakers made some mistakes while trying to handle the Jayhawks press. With just under 3 minutes to play, Jamestown cut the Laker lead to 5, 58-53, after a Laker turnover. Lakeland would not be denied though as Kennedy Coleman followed with an old-fashiond 3-point play when she scored the layup and converted the free throw after being fouled. After a Jamestown basket, Monetta Hilory would score on a driving layup. On the Jayhawks next possesson, Kanija Kimbrough stole the ball and fed Hilory for another basket and a 10 point 65-55 Laker lead. From there, the teams traded baskets as the Lakers coasted to the victory.
The Lakers used a balanced scoring attack as four different players finished in double digits. Kanija Kimbrough led the way with 22 points while Monetta Hilory finished her night with 16 points. Kennedy Coleman picked up 13 points while Joh'niqua Clay added 12 points for the Lakers. Arianna Vera, Emerson Hren, and Gabriella Moore each chipped in a bucket for the Lakers while Raegan Perkins-Hirz did a great job defensively helping to control the Jamestown bigs.
Player of the Game: Kanija Kimbrough
Gardy's Gab: "Coming off of 1 1/2 weeks off - we did a really nice job. We were able to keep our focus throughout as the team did a good job following the game plan. Defensively we were able to force them into some tough shots and also forced their bigs to make some difficult decisions. Everyone really stepped up as it was a total team effort. We'll get back at it tomorrow as we have a very challenging weekend ahead of us."
Next Up: Next Up: The Lakers will head to the St. Clair County Basketball Tournament this weekend where they will face the Skippers on Friday night (12/5) at 6:00 pm. On Saturday (12/6), the Lakers will face their Region 12 foe Oakland Raiders in an 11:00 am tip.
