Quecia Parker made three 3-pointers and scored 13 points, tying Charmaine Burns for the team scoring lead on Friday evening as the Leavenworth girls’ basketball team looked good for three quarters, but they couldn’t hold onto a fourth-quarter lead and lost 55-45 to Olathe Northwest.
Pioneer head coach Jessica Fullen said that her squad didn’t handle the lead very well and tried to do too much, which led to turnovers that allowed the Ravens to come back.
“Part of it is us learning how to finish the game and doing smart things with the ball,” Fullen said. “We got to doing things that we shouldn’t have done (in the fourth quarter). ... We just forced some things that weren’t there.”
The Pioneers (4-9, 0-4 in SunflowerLeague play) had led virtually throughout, jumping out to a 16-11 lead heading into the second quarter and extending the advantage to 27-21 at halftime.
The Ravens (4-9, 1-4 in the Sunflower League) were not to be denied their third consecutive victory, however. They whittled the lead down to 37-34 by the end of the third quarter, and Fullen said they had it tied at 40-40 with about five minutes remaining. They took the lead immediately afterward and never relinquished it.
Fullen said that the foul situation also played a huge factor down the stretch.
Leavenworth got to the line only eight times the entire game, making five of them, but Northwest made nine free throws in the fourth quarter alone and finished the contest 25-for-33.
“They got into the double bonus pretty fast, and they got to the line 33 times to our eight, so that made a big difference in the fourth quarter,” Fullen said.
For the first three quarters, though, the Pioneers had the upper hand. Fullen said they shot the ball well and limited the Ravens to a lot of one-shot possessions with strong rebounding.
“Our pressure defense bothered them a lot, and they were so worried about our transition that they couldn’t crash the boards,” Fullen said. “We actually shot pretty well from the 3-point line. ... (Parker) had a good shooting game. She knew that they were leaving her open, and she was going to knock them down and make them be honest.”
Jaylah Jackson added 11 points for the Pioneers and made two 3-pointers. Burns also made a 3-pointer, as Leavenworth finished with six baskets from downtown against just two by Olathe Northwest.
Parker and Burns each four assists as well, and Burns also had four rebounds and three assists. Jackson had a big night on the boards with seven rebounds, but the glass was dominated by the Pioneers’ Burgandie Lewis, who had 15 rebounds.
“She played really, really hard,” Fullen said. “It was apparent. She just said she wanted to dominate the boards.”
Lewis finished with four points on the evening, and Alex Brown and Rashayla Mathis each scored two.
The Pioneers will be in action again on Tuesday at home against Olathe East (8-5, 3-2 in the Sunflower League after their 52-31 win over Shawnee Mission Northwest on Friday). Tip-off will be at approximately 5:30 p.m.
