Lions tripped

Leavenworth topples LHS in OT, 44-42

? It seems the Lawrence High and Leavenworth girls basketball teams specialize in dramatic finishes.

But while the Lions won last Thursday’s regular-season finale, Leavenworth pulled off a 44-42 overtime victory in Friday’s Class 6A sub-state semifinals at Shawnee Mission Northwest.

“We knew it was going to be a dogfight. We got lots of open looks late in the game, even early in the game,” Lions coach Kristin Mallory said. “We just couldn’t put the ball in the hole.”

The Pioneers (12-9) advanced to today’s final against Shawnee Mission Northwest, but it could have easily been LHS.

Down 42-38 with 2:12 left in overtime, Lawrence junior Jodie Cochrane hit a baseline jumper, and 40 seconds later junior Josie Polk’s drive tied it at 42.

The Lions (15-6) forced a Leavenworth turnover with a minute left, but Polk was called for traveling 20 seconds later. The Lions took possession under their own hoop with 21 seconds left after Leavenworth missed a free throw, but they couldn’t complete the inbounds pass.

It was their 24th turnover of a physical game. As a result, the Lions, who like to push the tempo, were forced to play a slower, tougher game.

“I don’t think that’s what threw us off,” Lawrence junior Rachael Klingler said. “I just think we came out nervous, and we couldn’t settle down.”

LHS senior Audrey Pope fouled Leavenworth’s Tiffany Brooks with 15 seconds left. Pope and Lions senior Shari Lassiter had been taking turns guarding the Kansas State signee, holding Brooks to just 5-of-18 shooting.

But Brooks made both free throws, and the Lions had the chance for a final shot.

Polk had the ball on the left side, just outside the perimeter, when Leavenworth double-teamed her. Mallory called timeout, but by the time the referees signaled timeout Polk had split the defense and driven for a moot layup.

Lawrence High's Josie Polk (30) attempts a shot between Leavenworth defenders La Toi ya Jackson (42) and Kim Nicholson. The Pioneers beat the Lions in overtime, 44-42, Friday at Shawnee Mission Northwest.

“She gets trapped in the corner and I’m, ‘Timeout! Timeout!'” Mallory said. “Then she splits the defenders.”

The Lions set up an inbounds play for Polk with three seconds left, but she couldn’t get a good look.

After rallying from an 8-0 deficit to start the game and holding the Pioneers to just three points in the fourth quarter, it certainly wasn’t how Mallory thought the game would end.

“I think we came out a little nervous, but I thought we fought back into it and had our chances,” she said. “We should be used to overtime. We just came out of a game like that. I thought we’d be a little better with it.”

Part of the problem was Leavenworth’s defensive pressure, which prevented the Lions — especially Polk — from getting any open looks. She averages 17 points per game, but the Pioneers’ clamp-down defense didn’t let her get open. Polk finished with eight points, going 1-of-11 from the field.

Lawrence High's Megan Klingler, right, is fouled in the lane by Leavenworth forward Tiffany Brooks in the Lions' 44-42 overtime loss. Lawrence's season ended Friday at Shawnee Mission Northwest.

Lawrence junior Cherrale Ricks led LHS with 11 points and 13 rebounds, but eight of those came in the first half and she had trouble the entire game getting open in the lane. Klingler, who had eight points and 12 rebounds, was the other half of the Lions’ force on the boards, but they couldn’t convert any follows.

“Coach worked with me on my rebounding because that’s usually not something I do. I’m usually out around the perimeter,” Klingler said. “But I knew they’d be important late in the game.”

It was a bitter end for a team that finished with the most wins in a season since the Lions went 20-5 and were state runner-ups in 1993.

“It’s definitely disappointing,” Mallory said. “We had our goals set a lot higher and we’re capable of a lot higher. We just didn’t take care of the ball.”