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Third-degree burns: Troublesome quarter topples Lady Leopards
BY Matt Welch, mwelch@starlocalnews.com
Tuesday was a tale that has become all too familiar for the Lovejoy girls basketball team this season.
Battling Frisco Liberty through a nip-and-tuck first half, the Lady Leopards succumbed to a second-half surge by the opposition in an eventual 42-30 setback against the Lady Redhawks.
"That third quarter has been our Achilles heel the entire season," said Lisa Branch, Lovejoy first-year head coach. "For whatever reason, we come out flat and not as aggressive as we were in the first half and that's something we've talked about and tried to work on in practice.
The Lady Leopards were victimized by an 18-11 run from Liberty in the third quarter -- an output that accounted for 43 percent of the Lady Redhawks' entire scoring ledger for the night.
By contrast, Lovejoy limited Liberty to single digits in each of the other three quarters and only trailed, 15-13, at halftime.
"We tried to switch things up and keep [Liberty] guessing," Branch said, "whether it was if we were in a man or a zone, or if we were trapping or not trapping; we wanted to change it up defensively."
The third-quarter outburst gave Liberty a 33-24 lead that was all the advantage needed to deal Lovejoy its third straight setback.
Marred by an early-season rash of injures plus senior Morgan Hancock and junior Cassie Conarty working their way back from knee issues, the scoring onus fell upon sophomore Paige Eberhart on Tuesday. The guard was the game's lone double-digit scorer, notching 13 on the evening. Conarty and freshman Annie Lenoir each added five points.
"[Eberhart] was big on both ends and gave us a few 3-pointers, which is her specialty," Branch said. "We depend on her majorly to contribute on that end. She got a few easy baskets as well, which I think helped her confidence with that 3-point shot."
Eberhart was tasked with pacing the offense after junior Shani Rainey, Lovejoy's leading scorer on the year, was plagued by early foul trouble and limited to just one point in the loss.
"[Rainey] picked up two fouls in the first half and had to sit until the third," Branch said. "I'm not sure why she wasn't able to get going, though ... It was a rough shooting night for her and it's probably the only game where she hasn't scored in double figures for us."
Dropping to 3-10 on the season, Lovejoy seeks a bounce-back showing at 7:30 p.m. Friday when it travels to Princeton.
"I like the way we've been sharing the ball on offense," Branch said. "We sometimes share it maybe too unselfishly and will pass up open shots at times. But we need to fix things on defense; I'm a defensive coach and I take pride in that. We want to hold teams to 40 points per game and that's something we need to do consistently."
Flaggert's 32 not enough for Lovejoy boys
Lovejoy senior Jake Flaggert was not to be denied in Tuesday's road tilt against Euless Trinity.
As a team, it was a different story for the Leopards, who fell prey to a 53-48 loss. Flaggert scored 32 points and was the lone Lovejoy player to break double figures, with junior Jordan Reed adding seven points and senior Chris Ford chipping in four.
The Trojans held Lovejoy to just 16 points in the first half, with the Leopards relying on 21 points in the fourth quarter to chip away at the deficit.
It wasn't enough though, as Lovejoy's up-and-down 2012-13 campaign continues.
The Leopards return to action today when they travel south for the Hays Tournament.
For continued news and coverage on the local sports scene, follow @MWelchSCN on Twitter.
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