CELINA – With the sectional basketball tournament right around the corner, coaches are trying to fine tune their teams game.
Lima Senior coach Vince Halliday had to be pleased with what he saw as his Spartans defeated Celina by a final margin of 69-55 at the venerable Celina Fieldhouse.
The Lima Senior defensive pressure caused the Bulldogs fits and created 17 first half turnovers but the Spartans weren’t hitting their shots as they finished the first half connecting on only 11-of-30 from the field for 36 percent against the 2-3 zone defense that Celina came out in.
“I thought we played real good defense in the first quarter,” Halliday said. “Then in the second quarter we tried to get greedy with the steals.”
Lima took a 14-4 lead after the first period of play and went to the half-time break up by a margin of seven points at 27-20.
Celina (1-16) stayed in the game despite 17 first half turnovers as they connected on 10-of-11 from the free throw line to keep the contest close.
But just like that, the Spartans came out in the third period on fire.
Talor Washington started the onslaught with a 3-pointer and Lexi Williams connected on back-to-back three’s and suddenly the Spartans were up 36-24. Lima Senior would go on to outscore the Bulldogs 27-12 in the quarter to take a 54-32 lead going to the final period of play.
The Spartans, who improved to 8-10 on the year, were still up 69-45 before Celina scored the final 10 points of the contest to account for the final score.
“We hit those big three-pointers and were solid defensively in the third quarter.” Halliday said. “We turn people over and that’s what we did, plus we got 32 points off of those turnovers.”
The Spartans forced Celina into 34 turnovers in the game while committing only 11 miscues of their own. The taller Bulldogs did control the rebound battle by a 35-17 margin.
The Spartans placed four players in double digit scoring and were led by Washington with 18 points. Latoine Cowan and Kierre James both totaled 15 points while the freshman Williams added 13 for Lima.
“Any time you can get four girls in double figures it is a good thing.” Halliday said. “All in all, I’m pleased.”
Celina was led in scoring by Lauren Jackson with a game-high 21 point effort. She was joined in double digits by Maddy Luebke with 16 points.
Both teams are extremely young as the Bulldogs do not have a senior on their roster. Lima, meanwhile, starts two freshmen – Ajohlon Bullock and Williams – to go along with sophomore Washington.
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