Lyv Lindeman, of Delphos Jefferson, shoots a layup against Taylor Nickles of Allen East during Thursday’s game at Delphos Jefferson High School. Lindeman set a school record with 40 points in the Wildcats’ win against the Mustangs.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
DELPHOS — When Delphos Jefferson senior standout Lyv Lindeman drives into the lane, there’s a good chance she will come away with points.
In Thursday’s key Northwest Conference girls basketball matchup against Allen East, Lindeman scored a school-record 40 points, including 20 of 22 shooting from the free-throw line, to help lead Delphos Jefferson to a convincing 57-41 victory over Allen East.
With the win, Delphos Jefferson improved to 9-1 overall and remained undefeated in the NWC with a 3-0 mark. Allen East slipped to 7-2 overall and 0-2 in conference play.
Lindeman’s 40 points surpassed her mother’s school record of 38 points. Her mother is Delphos Jefferson head coach Denise (Blockberger) Lindeman, a former basketball standout at Delphos Jefferson.
On Dec. 30, Lyv Lindeman became the all-time leading scorer in program history, when she eclipsed the 1,400-point barrier in Jefferson’s 71-42 win over Van Wert.
Lindeman was nearly automatic at the charity stripe on Thursday.
“Every single day after practice, I shoot foul shots for 10 minutes,” Lindeman said. “If I miss one, I go down and back (on the basketball court). I hold myself accountable for those (misses).”
Lindeman said that breaking her mother’s single-game scoring record wasn’t the focus on Thursday.
“We’ve always had a little bit of fun talking about it – if I was going to break it or not. But I’m definitely just happy about this team win,” she said.
Lindeman entered Thursday’s contest averaging 24 points per game on 49-percent shooting from the field. She was shooting 78 percent from the free-throw line coming in.
Along with Lindeman’s huge effort, Kyrstin Moore had seven points and eight rebounds. Claire Brinkman added six points and five boards for the Wildcats.
Savana Brooks and Rilynn Jones led Allen East with 12 points apiece. Jones had three steals. Soraya Jackson, a 6-foot forward, had seven points, eight rebounds and a block. Ella Miller scored six points on two 3-pointers for the Mustangs.
On Thursday, Delphos Jefferson jumped out quickly on Allen East, as it scored the first six points of the contest. However, Allen East battled back, and by the end of the first quarter, Jefferson led 13-10.
Allen East led 19-16 with three minutes left in the half. However, Jefferson closed out the second stanza on a 7-0 run to go into the break with a 23-19 lead over the Mustangs.
In the third quarter, Jefferson began to pull away from Allen East. Lindeman canned two 3-pointers to lead the charge. By the third stop, Jefferson led 41-27.
The Tiffin University-bound Lindeman ended the night with two 3-pointers. Overall, Lindeman was 9 of 12 shooting from the field.
“We talked with our girls all week that we just need to play fun basketball,” Jefferson coach Denise Lindeman said. “We needed to play disciplined and just be us. They (Allen East) have two 6-footers. I thought Claire Brinkman (5-foot-8, freshman) did a great job. I thought she played her tail off. Lyv (Lindeman) was just phenomenal tonight. I thought we had great offensive selections; and I thought our defense was solid.
“I thought we rebounded very well. I just thought our girls played their hearts out tonight. I’m so proud of them. They came out and played hard on both ends of the court. As a coach, that’s all you can ask.”
Delphos Jefferson won the battle on the boards, 27-21.
For the game, Delphos Jefferson shot 51.7 percent from the field. Allen East connected on 34.1 percent of its field goal attempts.
Both teams turned the ball over 11 times.
At the free-throw line, Jefferson was 24 of 28 for 85.7-percent shooting.
Delphos Jefferson 57, Allen East 41
Allen East 10 9 8 14 — 41
Delphos Jefferson 13 10 18 16 – 57
Allen East
Savana Brooks 12, Rilynn Jones 12, Dylan Miller 2, Soraya Jackson 7, Ella Miller 6, Taylor Nickles 2. Totals: 14-10-41.
Delphos Jefferson
Kyah Kimmet 2, Aubrey Dudgeon 2, Lyv Lindeman 40, Kyrstin Moore 7, Claire Brinkman 6. Totals: 15-24-57.
3-pointers: DJ–Lyv Lindeman 2, Kyrstin Moore 1; AE–Savana Brooks 1, Ella Miller 2.
Records: Allen East 7-2, 0-2 NWC; Delphos Jefferson 9-1, 3-0 NWC
