Lebanon girls rain '3s' as they blast WeBo 79-34

LEBANON — The Lebanon girls basketball team defeated its county rival Western Boone 79-34 in Friday night’s game at Lebanon High School.

It was an intense match up, as both teams had a lot to gain from this win. Each team wanted to gain a Sagamore Athletic Conference win, as both teams had won their first conference game.

Western Boone came in with an 8-1 record, but dropped to 8-2 after the loss. Lebanon is now 5-2.

The Lady Tigers came out strong in the first quarter, getting nice ball movement down the court, and playing hard man-to-man defense. The Tigers were able to pressure the Stars, and cause turnovers, and were also able to prevent open shots. Senior Dana Reynolds and junior Maggie Boyer together showed great defending skills leading their team in rebounds and steals.

“[Lebanon] has five girls on the floor that can guard any five girls,” says Western Boone head coach Willie Smith. “All five girls switching every ball screen, switching every pick, we’re still not strong enough in the guard position for that kind of defense.”

Because of this Western Boone came out, a little shaky on offense, but was able to force the Tigers from to taking to many inside shots, and contain them to the outside perimeter, also in a man-to-man defense. Senior Allison Bramblett and junior Elizabeth Mercer did well on blocking out and getting some good rebounds for the Stars.

However, Lebanon seemed unfazed. The Tigers were successful on the outside shots, with 24 of their 49 points scored by three-pointers. Boyer was 5-of-7 for three-point shots in the first half, followed by senior Tasha Marshall (2-of-3).

“The idea of going man-to-man was that there should be someone responsible for Boyer at all times,” said Smith. “It was kind of frustrating because our defense was aimed to pick her up. Around three or four of her three point shots were just one pass and a shot, while we’re in the lane. We need to work on that.”

Boyer scored 23 points in the first half.

“[Boyer] has the capabilities to do that,” says Lebanon head coach Tracey Hammel. “You have to give the other girls credit, too. They know she has the hot hand, and they give her the ball, where she can catch and shoot. The girls are doing a great job of finding the hot hand, and that’s good.”

WeBo’s Mercer and junior Mandy Reehling were able to find some open shots for the Stars and lead their team in points the first half, equally scoring three. Boyer and Reynolds were the top scorers for the Tigers, with 23 and 12. The halftime score was 49-15.

Western Boone came out in the third quarter in a zone defense hoping to find a new strategy to recover from Lebanon’s eight “3’s” in the first half. This proved to be ineffective, as the Tigers were still able to move the ball around to the open area, resulting in open perimeter shots. Lebanon’s Reynolds and sophomore Whitney Breedlove were able to add to the Tiger’s defense, each having scoring their highest in this quarter.

Lebanon had 12 assists for the game.

“They look at the scoreboard, and not the scorebooks,” said Hammel. “There is a big difference there. They do a good job of knowing where each other is, and that really helps us.”

WeBo’s Mercer did an excellent job of finding open shots in the third quarter scoring six of her eight points with three-point shots. Junior Kassie Yates also added to the WeBo score through her steals and assists. The third quarter ended with Lebanon leading 66-27.

Lebanon had two three-point plays right off the bat at the beginning of the forth quarter for the Lady Tigers, after Boyer and Reynolds were able to pick up a foul after making an inside shot.

The Stars gave it their all in aggressiveness in the last eight minutes of the game. That put the Tigers on the line, where they were able to score a few extra points.

Boyer led Lebanon with 30 points, while Reynolds had 19 and Marshall scored 16. Following were Breedlove with eight, junior Aly O’Conner with four and sophomore Claire Milam with two.

For the Lady Stars, Mercer led the team with 13 points. Next were Yates with six, sophomore Lindsey Woody with five and Reehling with three. Other scorers were senior Allison Bramblett, junior Taylor Guinn, and freshman Brandy Woody with two points each, and junior Alicia Asher with one.

“We have to put this game behind us,” said Smith. “We aren’t going to the throw in the towel. This just shows us we have a lot of work to do here if we want to get to where we want to be in the conference and sectionals.”

Lebanon will host Fishers Tuesday. The junior varsity game starts at 6 p.m., with the varsity game to follow.

Western Boone travels to Southmont Friday for a girl-boy doubleheader. The girls game starts at 6 p.m., with the boys game afterwards.