TURNER — After Leavitt scored the first basket of the game Tuesday night, the Hornets didn’t net another until late in the opening quarter.
That summed up the evening for the Leavitt girls’ basketball team.
Lincoln Academy broke open an early lead with 10 straight points in the first quarter and baskets were few and far between for the Hornets. The Eagles barely looked back in a 40-28 win.
Leavitt coach Dave Gerrish left immediately following the game and was unavailable for comment.
“I was pretty happy with the performance of my kids,” Lincoln Academy coach Kevin Feltis said. “We lost our starting center (Jen Genthner) pretty early in the second quarter with a wrist injury.”
Barrett Campbell led the Eagles with 13 points while Leslie Sandefur added nine. Leavitt got eight from Meagan Dow and seven each from Tasha Cloutier and Sierra Santomango.
“It was kind of an ugly game but that’s a compliment to both defenses,” said Feltis, whose team opens the season 2-0 after back-to-back road wins. “Both teams played a good set of defense out there. We took advantage sometimes with some overplay and that got us some open shots.”
Leavitt was plagued by over 30 turnovers and shot 8-for-34 from the floor. The Hornets managed just one field goal in the final quarter and that came with 37 seconds left in the game.
What kept the Hornets (1-1) in the game was its free throw shooting. Leavitt scored 12 points from the foul line, including seven of its 10 points in the second quarter.
Lincoln Academy opened the game with a strong run that put the Hornets in the hole early. Leavitt turned the ball over 10 times in the first quarter and struggled to get a shot off after that first basket. The Eagles turned steals into baskets on the other end.
After two free throws by Sandefur, Campbell scored twice. Then Sandefur scored on a fast break and Jen Genthner scored on a rebound for a 10-2 lead.
“We definitely looked to pound the ball inside,” said Feltis, whose team had to adjust against Leavitt’s zone. “When that wasn’t there, we made some outside shots. That helped open that zone up.”
Leavitt got a basket by Santomango in the first minute but didn’t score again until Shannon O’Malley scored with 1:23 left.
The Hornets free throws kept the game close in the second. Leavitt got within three twice and finished the half down just 20-14.
The Eagles opened the second half with six straight and opened the lead to 26-14.
“It was basically getting back to basics for us,” Feltis said. “We started to run like we like to. We started to move the ball a little better and found the open people.”
Leavitt got a 3 from Cloutier and baskets by O’Malley and Dow to get back within 28-22 entering the fourth. A Dow free throw to open the final quarter got the Hornets within five. Leavitt had chances to get with four or three points numerous times in the fourth but missed its first eight shots and had another 10 turnovers.
“It was an opportunity for us to reestablish ourselves offensively when they cut it to four,” Feltis said. “We did a good job of making free throws and playing a little bit of our basketball.”
The Eagles scored nine of their 13 points from the line down the stretch to extend the lead to double digits.
kmills@sunjournal.com
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