LAPEL — A strong second half propelled Lapel to a girls high school basketball regional title over Rensselaer Central on Saturday afternoon, 63-42. Lapel head coach Zach Newby was very proud of his team, which hung the most points Rensselaer Central had given up all year.
“We just beat the second ranked team in the state by 20, so I think we played pretty well,” Newby said. “(Having the hometown crowd is) huge, you know, they support us. “All our sports and all our kids, (it’s) so important to be supported and to get to stay on your normal routine is very important.
“The crowd is huge.”
The first quarter was marked by three lead changes as both teams struggled to find momentum on offense. Junior Courtney Mathew led Rensselaer Central in scoring with six points – four free throws and a pull-up jumper – to kick off scoring for the Bombers. The crowd held their breath as the junior guard went down with an apparent ankle injury; she returned to the game but was held scoreless for the remainder of the half. Lapel was led by Laniah Wills, a Butler commit, who scored six of their first nine points.
After two minutes of tight defense, struggles with 3-point shots evaporated in the second quarter as both teams came out draining 3s. Lapel junior Samantha Sears’ two 3s kept pace with the Bombers, who maintained a lead thanks to sophomore forward Bryn Webb. Lapel went on a 6-2 run to close the half, all scored by Wills; a drive to the basket with 20 seconds left gave the Bulldogs a three-point lead. On the ensuing possession, she blocked a Rensselaer shot, dribbled the length of the floor and recorded an easy layup at the buzzer. The Bulldogs led 24-19 at halftime.
“We knew they only give up 35 points a game, and so we knew we had to be patient,” Newby said of the offense, which exploded in the second half. “We wanted to take our shots. We weren’t going to force things just to get a shot up. I thought we took a lot of open shots and we missed a lot of open shots.”
Lapel opened the third quarter with an 8-2 run, further extending their lead to nine points. Mathew scored her first points since the first quarter at the two-minute mark, a shot that cut the lead to eight. A two from Alivia Cain cut the lead to six, but it wouldn’t be enough as Lapel closed the quarter with 6-2 run with four points from Wills, who led the Bulldogs in scoring with 22 points.
Any hope of a Rensselaer Central comeback was snuffed out thanks to four 3-pointers from junior Addie Bodenhorn, who extended Lapel’s lead to an insurmountable 17 points with Wills on the bench for most of the fourth quarter.
“She’s a great player,” Newby said of Bodenhorn, who finished with 18 points. “She’s a really good shooter. The percentages don’t show it, but we see it every day in practice. And, you know, I don’t know if they didn’t watch much film from the sectional but she shot it well in the sectional and they left her wide open and she made them pay.”
Mathew and Webb led the Bombers with 10 points each. Two seniors – Kamri Rowland and Brodie Radtke – will graduate. Rensselaer coach Wes Radke could not be reached for comment after the game.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Lapel beats No. 2 Rensselaer Central, 63-42, in girls basketball regional
Reporting by Bryan Ault, Special to IndyStar / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
