Pacer rally falls just short in playoffs

By Stephen Alexander

The West Linn Tidings, Mar 4, 2010

During the last four minutes of the Lakeridge girls' 73-68 first-round loss at Grant Tuesday night, the Pacers put together some of their best basketball of the season.

During that span, the Pacers forced turnovers and scored 18 points to rally from an 11-point deficit. It was not enough, though.

The Pacers, the No. 4 team from the Three Rivers League, allowed PIL 6A No. 2 Grant (18-5) to explode on the offensive end to start both halves which proved to be the difference in the game.

The Generals went on a 12-2 run in the first half and a 17-2 run in the second. The Pacers were unable to handle Grant's full-court press and half-court trap.

Turnovers played a big part in both runs.

"It was our first time coming to the playoffs," Lakeridge coach Katy Wilson said, of the Pacers' five-year playoff drought. "They had to shake off their nerves and calm down. We just turned the ball over too much."

Lakeridge also had trouble shooting from the field. The Pacers had some good looks at the basket, but too often their shots rimmed out.

Senior post Lexi Ross shrugged off the Pacers' shooting struggles. "That (can) always happen," she said. "If you don't make the shot, crash the boards."

Ross scored 24 points and did her job crashing the boards, pulling down 18 rebounds.

Sophomore Kyliegh Young scored a team-high 26 points to go along with her five assists. Nicole Blizzard added 16 points.

The Pacers also could not come up with an answer on defense for junior guard Ra'zja Goodman. Goodman had a game-high 29 points, 15 coming during the third quarter. Senior post Jacqueline Shaw scored 19 for Grant, and junior guard Kiara Berry scored 12.

Grant will go on to play Southridge Friday night.

The Pacers look poised to come back with a strong team next season, with eight players returning.

1 | 2 Next Page >>

Facebook	Digg	Del.icio.us
Newsvine	Stumbleupon	Reddit