Hazen Holds On to D-III Lead

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Created on Thursday, 21 February 2013 16:51
Written by Courtland Hanley

LI HAZEN SNAPLYNDON - The Lyndon Institute Vikings hosted the Hazen Wildcats last night in girls basketball. While Lyndon's 2-14 record going into the game was far from intimidating, the vikings lost to the Division-III leading Wildcats by just one point in their last match-up.

Both teams came out strong on the defensive end. Lyndon forward Kayla Jardine established a defensive presence early, with three first quarter blocks. Officiating got the best of the Lyndon crowd early, as well as the home team's coach. Eric Berry received a technical foul for arguing calls in the first quarter. The Wildcats were able to maintain composure, and led by a score of 20-13 at the half.

Jardine came out firing in the second half, and Lyndon began to climb back into contention. As Lyndon closed in, Hazen Junior Jordan Manning managed to keep finding open space on the floor, hitting a big three pointer to try to stop Lyndon's momentum. Rylie Nichols of Lyndon answered with a three of her own, before Manning hit yet another deep shot. Not to be outdone, Nichols hit a fourth consecutive three point field goal to end the third quarter. This brought Lyndon to within six.

The Vikings were scorching to open the fourth quarter, as Sophomore Cherree Berry hit back to back shots, followed by back to back three pointers for Sophomore Samantha Smith. This 10-0 run put Lyndon ahead 36-32. Jordan Manning had the answer again, with another three to close the gap. Hazen stiffened up the defense once more, and took a charge that swung the momentum for the rest of the game. It then became a game of who to foul for Lyndon. Hazen made sure to keep inbounding to Senior Alyssa Whitney, who hit all eight of her fourth quarter free throw attempts to seal the deal in this one, as Hazen took the victory 47-42.

While he was glad to take the victory, Hazen Head Coach Gary Bellavance acknowledged he played just well enough to win, but that wouldn't be enough moving forward. "You can't miss that many bunnies and give up that many threes and expect to be good in the playoffs. We still have work to do but the good thing is we haven't peaked yet," Bellavance said.

Lyndon falls to 2-15, while Hazen remains atop Division-III with a record of 15-3. Lyndon Institute's next game is Saturday at Harwood.