Sports

DuSable Ends Lyons Girls Basketball Season

The struggling team's season meets its conclusion at the hands of the Panthers, 56-48; three girls advance in three-point competition.

The Lyons Township girls basketball team fell in their first playoff game to the DuSable Panthers on Tuesday evening, 56-48, ending a 9-17 season, their second in a row with less than 10 wins.

The Lady Lions were overwhelmed by the offensive attack of DuSable senior star forward Jasmine Thompson, who posted a whopping 35 points, including 16 of 24 free throws (67 percent). DuSable (24-3) controlled the game from the outset, never letting the Lions within six points after the first quarter.

In a season full of frustrations for the LTHS girls, many were on display in the playoff match.

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The Panthers pressed the Lions with as many as four players, sometimes even leaving a Lyons player unmarked downcourt. But the Lions failed to exploit the loose defense with a quick attack, repeatedly fumbling and missing passes for easy turnovers.

In response, the Lions stepped up their own press—and were promptly called for a cavalcade of pushing fouls, sending Panthers to the foul line again and again. Four key Lions players fouled out in the match, which first-year LT coach Julie Meyers said she’d “never seen before.”

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Finally, while LT’s shooting percentage—33 percent from the field—was almost identical to DuSable’s, many of the missed shots were layups. Similarly, though LT shot 56 percent from the line to DuSable’s 58 percent, the Panthers had 14 more free throw opportunities.

“Day in and day out, our trouble on the court was making shots, and we overcame that to a certain extent on defense—we really are a great defensive team,” said Meyers. “Unfortunately, we had four people foul out … There were a lot of calls that I didn’t necessarily like, but we can’t control the officiating, just our defense.”

Indeed, fouls aside, defense was a highlight for the Lions, with the Panthers frequently being forced to chance outside shots.

And it wasn’t a runaway blowout by any means. Sophomore phenom forward Ashanti Davis connected with two three-pointers and led Lions scoring with 15 points. Junior guard Colleen Connors connected on all four of her free throws, finishing with 8 points. Senior guards Riley Donovan and Lindsay Esposito each added 6.

Finally, there was a bright spot for the Lions: they ran away with the pregame three-pointer competition. Esposito sank a whopping 10 shots (of 15 attempts) from beyond the arc to take first place, with senior guard Kamey Murphy placing second with nine.

Three shooters tied for third with six buckets; in a ten-shot playoff, Davis and DuSable’s Thompson scored four and five, respectively, to advance.

While Esposito, Murphy and Davis will continue their journey in the three-pointer competition, for the team, the season has ended.

“As a team, I think they learned a lot about adversity,” said Meyers. “We had a lot of adverse situations, and I’m proud of these girls for dealing with it with such integrity. We’ve dealt with things off the court that most people never have to deal with, and we’ve dealt with things on the court. 

“The girls did a great job coming together. They really are a family, they’re loyal to each other; they’re a strong group of girls and I’m proud of them.”


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