A senior-night showdown between the struggling Lakewood Lady Leopards and the streaking Princeton Lady Bulldogs was on tap in Roseboro Tuesday.
Lakewood, having lost two straight, was in search of a win, but powered by a strong second half, the Lady Bulldogs pulled away from Lakewood, snagging the 50-33 victory.
Sloppy starts from both teams made scoring difficult to begin the game, however, the Lady Bulldogs got out in front 5-0. Once scoring cranked up in the first quarter, Princeton took the 11-6 lead.
It was well into the second quarter before Lakewood would add additional points on the board, with Princeton going on an early 7-0 run. Clamping down on defense, the Lady Leopards gave up only a point in the quarter’s final four minutes, but still trailed 19-14 as the dust settled on the first half.
Rebounds went heavily in favor of Princeton for much of the first half, a problem that only grew for Lakewood in the remainder of the game.
Getting killed on boards, Lakewood saw their deficit grow to as much as 14 in the third quarter. The Lady Leopards, though, were able to trim it down to 9 courtesy of senior Kiarye Bailey’s floater which beat the third quarter buzzer.
Lakewood’s 35-26 hole at the end of three would only grow as the game winded down. Outscoring the home team 15-7 during the fourth, Princeton went on and walked away with the 50-33 road victory.
“Yes, we got killed on the boards tonight,” said Lakewood head coach Vonnie McNeil. “Not moving our offense was another problem. I thought our defense was okay, but we still need to run a better defensive effort.”
It was the last time Bailey, Da’Leisha Williams, India Dixon, Aniya Howard, Adia Edwards, and Anyia Melvin, would play on Lakewood’s home court. McNeil honored them in her post-game comments.
“I’m definitely going to miss my seniors. Right now, I can’t say if I’ll be able to replace them, because they’ve been so good to us. They fought this hard year, giving it their all and I’m proud of them,” McNeil concluded.
Princeton won in another way Tuesday, when the top team in conference play, Rosewood, blew a 30 point halftime lead, falling to Neuse Charter, 66-65. This sets up a winner take all contest on Thursday between Rosewood and the Lady Bulldogs.
With another loss, Lakewood falls to 7-14 over all and 6-5 in Carolina 1A Conference play. The Lady Leopards will have a golden opportunity to end the season on a winning note when they tip off against winless Hobbton at 6 p.m. Thursday.