PEORIA —
Central sped to a big lead Tuesday night in its Mid-State 6 Conference game against Notre Dame, but decided to go to a slowdown with just less than two minutes left in the first quarter.
That very nearly cost the Lions the game.
Central was finally able to regain its momentum late in the fourth quarter and pulled out a 49-48 win over the host Irish.
The Lions (6-2, 2-1) trailed by 10 points with six minutes left.
“I thought we came out great,” said Central coach Meechie Edwards, whose team led 13-4 after the first quarter. “But then I killed the momentum and I had to figure out a way to get us back going.”
Three big 3-pointers sparked the Lions — one by Jheri Alexander with 6:50 left in the fourth quarter, and the second by LaCorsica Metts at 4:20 which got her team back within three points.
Alexander also hit the third 3 with 3:40 to play which tied the game at 40.
“I asked Metts, ‘Will you please step up for your team?’ and boy, did she step up,” said Edwards. “And I thought Alexander hit big buckets, too.”
The Irish (4-4, 0-2) also had to step up, to not only rally from the first-quarter deficit but then to take a 36-25 lead at the end of the third quarter.
“It was an excellent basketball game,” said Notre Dame coach Ron Carrothers. “I told them I had two kicks — No. 1 was that we didn’t start at the beginning of the game and No. 2, we let them speed us up a little more than we wanted to speed up in the fourth quarter. But overall, defensively, I don’t know how we could play any better than we did.
“You hate to be on the wrong end of the score but really, I can’t fault what we did and how we worked.”
Central senior Denisha Womack led all scorers with 21 points and hit six key free throws in the fourth.
“All the weight on my shoulders,” she said. “I want to carry this team as far as I can this year.”
Her last two free throws put the Lions up 49-45 with 1.6 seconds left but ND freshman Olivia Elger (18 points) was fouled on a desperation 3 at the buzzer and made all three free throws.
Jemia Carpenter added nine points and 16 rebounds for Central, which outrebounded ND 29-18.
Maureen Lawless had 13 points for Notre Dame and Megan O’Brien added 10. Hannah Wallace led her team with five rebounds.
Edwards is trying to get his team to be more consistent.
“I’ve seen glimpses of greatness,” he said. “And then I’ve seen times where we are right back where we started. But that was a heck of a game. That Olivia, she’s unbelievable.”
Edwards also praised the play of his point guard, Caris Johnson.
“She was more aggressive tonight, she knew where everybody was in the game — she was unbelievable tonight,” he said.
That very nearly cost the Lions the game.
Central was finally able to regain its momentum late in the fourth quarter and pulled out a 49-48 win over the host Irish.
The Lions (6-2, 2-1) trailed by 10 points with six minutes left.
“I thought we came out great,” said Central coach Meechie Edwards, whose team led 13-4 after the first quarter. “But then I killed the momentum and I had to figure out a way to get us back going.”
Three big 3-pointers sparked the Lions — one by Jheri Alexander with 6:50 left in the fourth quarter, and the second by LaCorsica Metts at 4:20 which got her team back within three points.
Alexander also hit the third 3 with 3:40 to play which tied the game at 40.
“I asked Metts, ‘Will you please step up for your team?’ and boy, did she step up,” said Edwards. “And I thought Alexander hit big buckets, too.”
The Irish (4-4, 0-2) also had to step up, to not only rally from the first-quarter deficit but then to take a 36-25 lead at the end of the third quarter.
“It was an excellent basketball game,” said Notre Dame coach Ron Carrothers. “I told them I had two kicks — No. 1 was that we didn’t start at the beginning of the game and No. 2, we let them speed us up a little more than we wanted to speed up in the fourth quarter. But overall, defensively, I don’t know how we could play any better than we did.
“You hate to be on the wrong end of the score but really, I can’t fault what we did and how we worked.”
Central senior Denisha Womack led all scorers with 21 points and hit six key free throws in the fourth.
“All the weight on my shoulders,” she said. “I want to carry this team as far as I can this year.”
Her last two free throws put the Lions up 49-45 with 1.6 seconds left but ND freshman Olivia Elger (18 points) was fouled on a desperation 3 at the buzzer and made all three free throws.
Jemia Carpenter added nine points and 16 rebounds for Central, which outrebounded ND 29-18.
Maureen Lawless had 13 points for Notre Dame and Megan O’Brien added 10. Hannah Wallace led her team with five rebounds.
Edwards is trying to get his team to be more consistent.
“I’ve seen glimpses of greatness,” he said. “And then I’ve seen times where we are right back where we started. But that was a heck of a game. That Olivia, she’s unbelievable.”
Edwards also praised the play of his point guard, Caris Johnson.
“She was more aggressive tonight, she knew where everybody was in the game — she was unbelievable tonight,” he said.
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