First Posted: 2/19/2015
LIMA – After a 60-46 loss to Toledo Notre Dame last month, Lima Senior decided to try something different in its girls basketball rematch against the Eagles on Thursday night at Senior High.
But the result was almost identical the second time around when Notre Dame grabbed an early lead and went on to take a 50-39 win over the Spartans in their final home game of the season.
Kaayla McIntyre, a 6-foot, 2-inch post player who has signed with the University of Toledo, scored 15 points and had 10 rebounds to lead Notre Dame (20-2, 12-1 Three Rivers Athletic Conference).
Rion Thompson scored 18 points for Lima Senior (12-9, 6-8 TRAC).
“Notre Dame is really good. They’re a top seven team in the state for a reason,” Lima Senior coach Vince Halliday said.
“Our game plan tonight was something a little different that we haven’t tried all year. It isn’t necessarily the style of basketball I prefer to play. It was a little slower and more methodical. Defensively, we tried something a little gimmicky. Our main focus, obviously, was McIntyre and Copeland (sophomore guard Mariah Copeland),” he said.
The Spartans’ plan was to make someone other than those two players beat them. But Notre Dame found plenty of back-up for the targeted two. C.J. Jefferson scored nine points, Dorian Miller had eight points and Megan Goedde came off the bench for eight points.
Where the game turned decidedly in Notre Dame’s favor was in the second quarter when McIntyre and the 6-foot Goedde combined for all 16 of the Eagles’ points.
A six-point lead after one quarter turned into a 33-15 lead with 3 ½ minutes left in the first half and Notre Dame was up 35-21 at halftime.
Lima Senior got to within 10 points four times in the second half, but that was as close as the Spartans could get.
“The kids battled. I was proud of the effort. We hung around. But Notre Dame did what they do,” Halliday said.
