LEIPSIC – Leipsic got off to a strong start, offensively, in Thursday’s Blanchard Valley Conference girls basketball game against Pandora-Gilboa.
But once Leipsic turned up its defensive pressure a couple more notches, the game quickly got out of hand, as Leipsic pulled away for a convincing 69-29 victory over P-G at Leipsic.
Thursday’s game nearly mirrored the two teams’ first matchup of the season, when Leipsic steamrolled P-G, 64-26, in their season-opener. The Rockets turned the ball over 34 times in that contest. In Thursday’s rematch, P-G turned the ball over 26 times
In Thursday’s BVC contest, Heather Lammers led Leipsic (6-1, 4-1 BVC) with 21 points, including three 3-pointers. Lammers also pulled down seven rebounds and made two steals at the defensive end. Teammate Kierra Meyer scored 14 points, including two shots behind the arc. Meyer also came away with six boards, four assists and three steals.
Kayla Ferguson led Pandora-Gilboa (1-6, 0-4 BVC) with 12 points and 5 rebounds.
“We like to pressure, defensively; because sometimes we’re not really good in our half-court offense,” Leipsic coach Gary Kreinbrink said. “So, we were trying to create some turnovers and maybe get some scoring in transition.
“Once we got things going, we tried to mix it up a little bit. In the second quarter, we went to a zone press, and that kind of helped us a little bit. They (P-G) started to have some turnovers, and we started converting.”
Leipsic jumped out to an 8-2 lead to start the game. Lammers and Meyer each canned 3-pointers in that stretch for Leipsic. The Vikings went on to claim a 17-13 lead by the first stop. Meyer scored seven points in the opening quarter for the Vikings.
However, Ferguson kept P-G close in the first quarter, scoring eight points.
Leipsic started the second quarter with a 7-0 run, pushing its lead to 24-13. Lammers hit a quick 3-pointer to ignite the charge for the Vikings. Lammers scored eight points in the quarter to help lead Leipsic to a 35-18 advantage by the halftime break.
“She (Lammers) is a really good shooter,” Kreinbrink said. “Once she gets rolling, she can carry us for a while. Kierra can shoot, too. She also can take the ball hard to the basket.”
Leipsic’s defensive pressure helped cause 10 P-G turnovers in the second quarter, while the Rockets managed just 2-of-6 shooting in the second frame.
The Vikings extended their lead to 53-23, by the end of the third quarter. The Rockets were just 2-of-8 from the floor. Lammers scored eight points to lead the way for Leipsic.
For the game, Leipsic dominated the boards, 41-17.
From the field, both teams shot 39 percent. However, Leipsic threw up 34 more shot attempts.
“Our girls will go after the rebounds,” Kreinbrink said. “But the problem with that is, we’re missing a lot of shots. … So, we have to go in and get offensive rebounds. So, that’s kind of a double-edged sword.”
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