Lawrence Central coach Jannon Lampley knew North Central would be fired up ahead of the Bears’ matchup against the Panthers for the Sectional 10 championship. The Panthers, fresh off an upset victory over defending Class 4A state champion Lawrence North on Friday night, would be eager to take the court in front of their home crowd.
Lampley knew it would be important for the Bears to set the tone early, and that’s precisely what they did in their 68-51 victory over the Panthers on Saturday night.
“They had a great home crowd yesterday,” Lampley said. “They had a big emotional win yesterday. I thought they played phenomenal. So, we knew what they’re capable of. We knew how they would come out and play, and that was the message to the team: ‘Don’t let them come out here and force us to play their tempo because we will be in for a long dogfight.’”
Fueled by six first-quarter threes from sophomore guard LeAnah Hyatt and a stifling defense, the Bears took a lead they wouldn’t relinquish in the early minutes of the game and never looked back. Lola Lampley led Lawrence Central with 20 points.
“(Hyatt) is one of the top players in that 2028 class,” Jannon Lampley said of the sophomore, whose threes set the early tone. “I think she’s just one of those that hasn’t gotten the attention that the others have. And it’s tough because she’s playing on a team with Jaylah Lampley, Lola Lampley, Aniyah McKenzie, now Kiki Butler. Those are some pretty good players to the lineage within the program. But she’s learned from them, and she’s played them big time games, and I’m happy to see her really just evolving and starting to come into her own.”
The Panthers (10-13) struggled to find their footing on offense largely due to the talent of the Bears (20-4), and their full-court press on defense.
“I think they played the moment, right? Like, they were super physical and making it really hard on us on offense,” North Central coach FahKara Hawkins said. “And then, you know, number one really came out and she shot the lights out, you know? And so in that first half that kind of deflated us defensively a little bit.”
Along with Hyatt’s threes, the Bears’ lead extended to 18 points after a two-pointer from Aubri Ingram, but the Panthers closed the first quarter with five points from Nina Whitehead to close the gap.
North Central opened the second quarter with a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 10 points with three field goals from Naja Winston, Laila Scott-Knox and Whitehead, but any momentum was stifled by the Bears after two field goals by Aniyah McKenzie. Senior Lola Lampley’s two-pointer and a three from Ingram gave the Bears a 36-21 lead at halftime.
Lawrence Central continued to build on their lead in a lengthy third quarter extended by several fouls from both teams. The Bears led by 24 late in the third period following a swish from McKenzie, who scored her 1,000th point to the cheers of the Lawrence Central crowd.
“She’s been a major part of this of this program, a cornerstone of this program,” Lampley said. “Her daily discipline, her daily focus, effort, commitment, I can’t say enough about her. I think that she could have went to another school and scored that a long time ago, and she traded that personal success for team success. I think that, again, is a testament to her character and really what she’s about. She’s a champion at everything she does, and she’s helped us champion this program.”
North Central’s season came to an end and concluded with a 10-13 record, but Hawkins said she couldn’t be more proud of her seniors, and the victory over Lawrence North on Friday is certainly one that won’t be forgotten.
“They were given a new coach, you know, for their last year, so there’s a lot of learning on the fly, but I’m so grateful for the leadership that they were able to show in different areas and just for trusting our staff the best they could with their last year, which was so important,” Hawkins said. “So we’re going to miss them.”
The Bears advance to the regional – an improvement over last year’s sectional loss to Lawrence North – and Lampley said there won’t be any easy games going forward. Lawrence Central will play top-ranked Pike in the regional.
“We’re going to have to continue to play solid basketball,” Lampley said. “We’re going to have to play with a level of intensity, a level of discipline. Otherwise you’re not going to go to another round. We definitely have our hands full, for sure.”
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Lawrence Central turns up heat, rolls to sectional title over North Central
Reporting by Bryan Ault, For IndyStar / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
