Lady Lions Rock Pink Uniforms, Defeat Panthers 51-33

By TJ Rhodes
Posted 2/1/23

An admittedly sluggish start, the Lady Lions took command of this game after the first quarter, never looking back. They ditched their traditional jerseys in favor of donated pink jerseys from Chad …

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Lady Lions Rock Pink Uniforms, Defeat Panthers 51-33

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An admittedly sluggish start, the Lady Lions took command of this game after the first quarter, never looking back. They ditched their traditional jerseys in favor of donated pink jerseys from Chad Shield and Culligan of the Quad Cities, looking extremely stylish in this dominating 51-33 win. The pink themed night was also paired as a parent night for the Lone Tree basketballers.

The young Lone Tree team was led by two freshmen, leading scorer Finley Jacque and Alyson Ford, with 14 and nine points respectively.

Pekin senior, Claire Roth, drew first blood. The Lady Lions did not have an answer until two-and-a-half minutes into the game. They then went on an 8-0 run before the Panthers finished the opening quarter with another two-pointer.

“It’s nice in games like these, you know, we have parent night, senior night, pink out night, so sometimes it gets a little emotional, it’s just a different atmosphere and different games, so we had to settle into the game a little bit at the beginning, but I felt like once we settled into the game, things were fine, we were able to move forward,” Lady Lion’s head coach, Ryan Shelman said.

The second quarter was the quarter of Alyson Ford. She dominated play for the first half of the quarter, starting with a great defensive steal, finishing with a layup. She then hit a two while drawing a penalty and hitting the free throw. Who scored the next four points? Ford, of course. She scored all nine of her points in the first half of the second quarter, a truly dominant stretch from the freshman.

Junior, Avery Lisk, was third in scoring for the Lady Lions with eight. She hit a three at the very end of the second quarter, giving Lone Tree a 22-8 lead at halftime. Lone Tree entered the locker room with clear relief on their faces after the rocky start. The shots were finally connecting.

“I thought our girls adjusted well, we have some things we need to tighten up but realistically, I think our defense is kind of what’s carried us all year, we were able to score some in transition and things like that, so you know, just proud of our overall effort,” Shelman said.

Throughout the year, good defense has been a theme observed by coach Shelman, and it was a big reason they stayed in the game after the slow start.

“Some of those themes are just good defense turning into good offense for us and then passing the ball, sharing the ball, making sure that whoever is open gets the shot,” Shelman said. “We’re able to kind of takeaway some of the things the other team is wanting to do against us so, we’ve played a couple of different defenses especially here late so, it’s just making us more competitive here towards the end of the year.”

Lone Tree did not take their foot off the gas pedal, scoring 14 in the third. Pekin did come out of the locker room prepared to be more competitive. Scoring eight in the first half, nine in the third alone.

Jacque started the third with a three. She finished the night 5/9 from the three-point line, clearly not afraid to take the important shots. Jacque was the only player from either team to hit a three, making her the clear x-factor of the night.

The fourth saw Pekin’s offense finally come to life, outscoring Lone Tree for the first time on the night, with a 16-15 quarter. It was not enough to overcome the dominant Lone Tree effort.

“As a team, I feel like we’re starting to gel, we’re starting to develop, our shooting has probably been one of the biggest differences as of late,” Shelman said. “Our shots are starting to fall, and people are starting to get more comfortable playing at the varsity level. With that young squad, it builds confidence going into the future year, and that’s something that’s really exciting me as a coach.”

A few things that helped Lone Tree in this win was their ability to hold possession, with 11 turnovers compared to 21 from Pekin. They also came up with two blocked shots.

On a five-game winning streak at this point in the season, Lone Tree guarantees a winning record and is currently ranked number three in the SEISC-North, only behind WACO and Winfield-Mt Union.

Looking Ahead:

Lone Tree will take on Wapello at home on Feb. 2 and has the SEISC Shootout game on Friday, Feb. 3 with an opponent to be determined. 

GAME STATS

Pekin       4      4        9       16    --  33

Lone Tree   8    14    14       15    --  51

PEKIN SCORING: Brooke Miller 11, Alex Parsons 9, Claire Roth 8

LONE TREE SCORING: Finley Jacque 14, Alyson Ford 9, Avery Lisk 8

LONE TREE REBOUNDS: Riley Krueger 8, Rylee Shield 5, Vivian Zaruba 4