LARNED—The Larned girls avenged an early-season loss to the Lyons Lions here Tuesday evening as they won their third game of the season, in overtime, 37-35. It was a game that was as close as the final score throughout the contest.
Larned , despite 6 first quarter turnovers, forged an 8-3 first quarter lead by shutting down the inside scoring of Lyons and their two 6-footers, Liberty Belote and Kristina Head. Behind Katelyn Sanger’s 8 points Larned maintained their lead and led at halftime 14-9 but the third quarter showed a change in style for Lyons as they moved Kristina Head out of the post to the outside and the moved worked as Lyons took a 22-20 third quarter lead.
The final minutes of the fourth quarter were a back and forth of key baskets and untimely turnovers for both squads as neither team could gain more than a three point advantage with regulation ending in a 32-32 deadlock.
Larned scored first in overtime on a key basket by Alyssa Clark and the Indians used free throws to forge a two-possession lead. With 18 seconds remaining Katelyn Sanger converted 2 free throws and Larned had a 5-point margin. A desperation heave at the buzzer banked in for Kristina Head making the final margin 37-35.
Larned coach Ashley Crosby said, “I am really happy for the girls. We’ve battled through a ton of injuries and some near misses this year so this is a good win for them. They kept battling and didn’t get discouraged.”
Lyons falls to 7-13 on the season, 2-8 in Central Kansas League play. The Lions were a cool 13 of 41 field goals and 8 of 12 from the charity stripe but 23 turnovers were costly. Lyons was led in scoring by Kristina Head with 17 while Bailey Hollinger and Liberty Belote added 6 apiece.
Larned improved to 3-17 for the season and got their first CKL victory against 9 losses. The Indians hit 14 of 38 field goal attempts and 6 of 9 free throws. Katelyn Sanger led Larned in scoring with 14 while Katie Fischer added 12 and 10 rebounds.
Larned will have over a week off and will meet the number-one seed, Hugoton, in the Holcomb 4A-II Sub State on Thursday, March 1.
Lyons 3 6 13 10 3 - 35
Larned 8 6 6 12 5 - 37
LYONS (7-13)—Head 7 2-2 17, Hollinger 2 2-2 6, Fierro 1 0-0 2, Belote 1 4-8 6, Stover 2 0-0 4, Totals 13 8-12 35.
LARNED (3-17)—Sanger 5 4-4 14, Fischer 6 0-0 12, Perez 3 0-0 6, A. Clark 1 0-0 2, Myrick 1 0-0 2, Nesby 0 1-2 1, Totals 15 6-8 37.
