LaBrae stops Liberty 47-46 in 2 overtimes

Bayle Boggs scored the
winning basket with
26 seconds remaining.

By DOUG CHAPIN

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

LEAVITTSBURG — The LaBrae High girls basketball program has struggled in recent seasons, but a 47-46 double-overtime victory Thursday night over Liberty High ensured the Vikings a winning season.

The loss is a severe blow to Liberty’s Trumbull Athletic Conference title hopes.

“We’ve really worked hard, especially the latter half of the season,” LaBrae coach Lisa Aldridge said. “I’m a new coach and it’s a new program. It takes time for them to know what I want. The first half of the season we lost a couple of games I thought we shouldn’t have lost. We came out the second half of the season and made the adjustments.”

The Vikings improve to 11-7 overall and 8-4 in the TAC.

“It’s a good feeling that we’re having a good season,” Aldridge said. “These girls have achieved beyond our expectations. Going in we thought it was a rebuilding year because we are so young and inexperienced. To have those 11 wins, that’s just a thrill. It’s a thrill for these kids to know what it’s like to win again. It’s a good feeling, it’s good to see them so happy.”

The Leopards (13-5, 9-3 TAC) came into the contest one game behind league-leading Brookfield. Liberty, the only TAC team to beat Brookfield, visits the Warriors’ gym next week in the season finale.

“We were looking ahead, it’s as simple as that,” Liberty coach John Hritz said. “We were looking down the road to Brookfield. We didn’t respect LaBrae and they came out and outhustled us, outshot us. They just beat us in every facet of the game. We just didn’t come to play tonight.

“You’ve got to take your hat off to LaBrae. Their coaching staff had a good game plan and they executed it.”

Junior forward Bayle Boggs scored LaBrae’s last six points, including the game-winning bucket off an assist from Angelica Pugh with 26 seconds remaining in the second overtime. Liberty missed two shots on its last possession and Boggs, who had game-highs of 17 points and 14 rebounds, snagged the final rebound of the game.

Boggs’ two free throws with 2:10 remaining in the second extra session put the Vikings ahead 43-40. Liberty buckets by Katie Greaf and Melissa Dykes put the Leopards ahead 44-43. Boggs followed with two more free throws, then Brianna Pettway made her only basket of the game to give the Leopards a 46-45 lead with 1:06 remaining. Boggs then scored the game-winner, but only after an offensive rebound by Courtney Aldridge gave the Vikings a second opportunity.

In the first overtime, a 3-pointer by Pugh with 1:10 remaining gave the Vikings a 40-38 lead, the fourth lead change in the period. Dykes then tallied on an assist by Pettway to tie the game. Pettway made a steal at the other end and got the ball ahead to Dykes who was fouled with 29 seconds left. However, she missed both free throws and Aldridge rebounded.

In regulation, LaBrae never led until the 3:39 mark of the fourth quarter when Boggs scored for a 27-25 lead. The Vikings stretched the lead to as large as five, the last time at 33-28 with 1:19 on the clock. Liberty then tied the game on baskets by Chi-Chi Merriweather and Brittany Armour, and a free throw by Greaf.

Both teams employed zone defense a good part of the game, and neither offense was sharp. LaBrae shot 35 percent (17-of-49) from the field and 57 percent (12-of-21) from the foul line. Liberty’s numbers were 30 percent (18-of-61) on field goals and 45 percent (10-of-22) on free throws.

“In the first game (a 45-35 Liberty victory) we played man-to-man, we thought we could match up with them,” coach Aldridge said. “We decided this game that we were going to make them shoot from the outside. If they were going to beat us, they were going to beat us with the outside shot.

“We knew they were good drivers, we knew they were good on the offensive boards. They are a very good team and are very aggressive. So we just decided to pack it in and make them beat us from the outside.”

Pugh contributed 13 points and four assists for LaBrae, Anna Bumgardner had 10 points and 10 rebounds and Aldridge grabbed 11 rebounds.

For Liberty, Dykes had 16 points, six rebounds and five steals. Armour had 11 points, 13 rebounds and six steals, and Merriweather had 10 points and nine rebounds.