By Sequoia Hall
Alessa Soto, goes head-to-head with Cougar’s No. 22, Samara Lugo
Photo by Joey Murphy.
Coming into the game, Lane Women’s Basketball looked to remain undefeated facing third-ranked Clackamas on Feb. 22.
The Clackamas Cougars were looking to shut down Lane’s high-flying electric offense. The Titans were hoping they continue their roll through the conference with their shut-down defense and elite team chemistry. The game ended in a 77 to 41 route as the Titans remained undefeated
It was sophomore night so before the game the Titans honored five graduating players: Emma Mcdonald #1, Micah Wicks #2, Brooklyn Moody #14, Kya Kanoho #23, and Lillee Duffin #32.
First quarter
After Lane won the tip, a back-and-forth defensive first quarter with hard-nosed fouls from both sides. As the first progressed Lane’s jumpers started landing with early bucks by Wicks and Kanoho the crisp passing was creating open shots, but Clackamas stayed close driving by point guard Toni Coleman. Lane kept the lead with a late layup by Brittea Byrge to give them a momentum boost after late points by the Cougars Mollie Miller.
Second quarter
Early threes by Wicks And Kanoho gave Lane a 10-point lead And strong rebounding by Brittea Byrge gave The Titans repeated possession that they were able to capitalize on with a mix of mid-rangers and layups. Clackamas had a tough time getting to the paint themselves with the help of defense of Lane.
The Clackamas coach received a warning halfway through the second, while the fouls were 8-3 in favor of the Cougars but cooler heads prevailed from there. Lane’s screen game started taking off as Clackamas had no answer for the size and strength of the Lane frontcourt. Three consecutive threes by Wicks gave a commanding 42 to 26 lead
Braylee Riturban responded with a three for Clackamas as the shooting from deep became more prominent from both sides At half, Lane led 44 to 29 while Shooting over 61% from three and perfect from the free throw line
During a halftime interview with The Torch, Coach Jack Graves shared the key factors behind Lane’s continued success.“Just taking care of the ball, making sure we keep playing good defense, staying out of foul trouble, getting the rebounds. Keeping it simple” Graves said. They were clearly focusing on the fundamentals and playing their brand of basketball.
Third quarter
Clackamas came hot with a three but the Titan’s Maitlin Young responded with one of her own. From there, teams traded steals and Lane continued to utilize their screen game while tough defense kept the Cougars off the board as the Titans opened the gap to 22 Lane exploded with threes as the crisp passing kept leaving wide-open Titans.
The great condition of the Titans showed through as the substitutions were minimal compared to the Cougars. The teams exchanged buckets throughout the third but the difference was the three wasn’t falling for the Cougars, they stayed tough drawing multiple fouls but it wasn’t enough for the constant jump shots drained by the Titan’s backcourt lead by Wicks as a late mid-range brought the Titan to lead to 28.
Fourth quarter
The Titans were trying to slow the game down in the fourth taking advantage of quick passing and team defense. The Cougars kept trying to get their screen game going but the agility of the Titans allowed them to maneuver around them while getting their hands in the passing lanes leading to multiple steals.
Buckets were exchanged in the paint as Lane was able to find passing lanes with an assist on almost all buckets Lillie Duffin facilitated in the paint with multiple buckets and assisted on a dagger of a three by Kya Kanoho. With Lane up 33 with four minutes left, they put the clamps on allowing two more points for the rest of the game. While on offense the bench players drained shots showing the bright future this team has.
A dominant 77 to 44 win as the Titans have one more game to get the perfect record which has not been done in school history. The sophomores played extremely as did the rest of the team showing chemistry and competitiveness as even up thirty there was no quit. The team plays again on Feb. 26 at 5:30 pm at Clackamas which should be a tough test — then it’s off to the playoffs where they will look to be the first team in conference history to threepeat as champions. To find out more about LCC’s women’s basketball and see their schedule visit LaneTitans.com/sports/wbkb
