Thirteen days ago, Lloyd Memorial’s girls basketball team was 6-8.
Things looked better Wednesday. A 45-40 win over Conner at Scheben Gymnasium put the Juggernauts above .500 (9-8) for the first time since Dec. 30 and was their third straight victory .
Brooklyn Jackson and Kenya Williams led Lloyd with 11 points each. To Jackson, Wednesday was the latest example of “overcoming adversity.”
“Last year, our team would have struggled, we would have gone down, and we wouldn’t have been able to get back up,” Jackson said. “ … I mean, we’re different this year. We’re overcoming, battling every game.”
Jackson (23) and Kenya Williams led Lloyd with 11 points each. Photo provided | Charles Bolton
Lloyd coach Paul Sturgeon knows about differences. He’s led Lloyd’s girls the past seven-plus years, St. Henry’s girls for four and Walton-Verona’s freshman boys the ten seasons before that.
“And I think, just the personality of the players on the team and the toughness of the players, this is the toughest team I’ve ever coached, boys or girls,” Sturgeon said.
Conner’s nightmarish season continued – the Cougars fell to 2-14 and 1-6 this month. Yet coach Michelle Gambrel said her team isn’t discouraged.
“We’re good individually,” Gambrel said. “We just haven’t figured out how to play as a team yet. We’re just not cohesive … This is my hardest-working team in practice than I’ve had in a long time.”
It didn’t help Conner to not have leading scorer Rhys Everett and 14.3 points and 5.6 points a game; she missed the game with the flu.
Fortunately for the Cougars, second-leading scorer Izelee Kerns (13.6 going into Wednesday) was strong – she scored 15 of her team’s 19 first half points and led everyone with 19.
“Izelee plays hard,” Gambrel said.
The obvious question: what adjustment did Lloyd make to hold Kerns to four points in the second half? Sturgeon said putting Emarie Litton on Kerns helped.
“So we tried to make an adjustment there, tried to force some more pressure on the ball so they couldn’t get direct passes to her,” Sturgeon said. “And we tried to quit fouling.”
The first quarter featured three ties, but every time Conner came close, Lloyd inched away. An early example: when Taylor Hawthorne’s bucket tied the game at 7-7 after four minutes, Aubrey Barger’s 3, two Chaun Fuqua’s two free throws and Mya Holden-Hopkins’ one led Lloyd’s 6-3 mini-run for a 13-10 lead after one quarter.
A late second-quarter play showed Lloyd’s willingness to take a risk. Fuqua, on the left wing, found Jackson on the other side for an eventual layup. Jackson’s four points and Williams’ two over the final 1:17 put the Juggernauts ahead at halftime, 26-19.
Yet Conner hung around.
When Bella Smith knocked down a 3 from the left corner with no Juggernaut anywhere near, Sturgeon erupted.
“You cannot walk down the floor!,” he screamed.
Kayci Covelle’s 3 pulled Conner to within 36-33 a little less than three minutes into the fourth quarter, but Lloyd finished with a 9-7 run the rest of the way.
MORE PHOTOS: Slideshow provided by Charles Bolton
JUGGERNAUTS 45, COUGARS 40
CONNER — 10-9-9-12 – 40
LLOYD MEMORIAL — 13-13-8-11 – 45
Conner (40) — Covelle 6, Kerns 19, Weaver 1, Hawthorne 4, Bertsch 3, Smith 7. 3-Pt. FG: 5 (Smith 2, Covelle 2, Kerns). FT: 7-12. Fouls: 19. Fouled out: None.
Lloyd Memorial (45) — Pierce 3, Fuqua 7, Barger 3, Williams 11, Litton 5, Jackson 11, Holden-Hopkins 5. 3-Pt. FG: 2(Pierce, Barger). FT: 15-24. Fouls: 20. Fouled out: Litton.
Records: Conner 2-14, Lloyd Memorial 9-8