Grace Basketball: Ladies Keep Rolling, Cougars Beat Men
FORT WAYNE – Grace’s women won it’s sixth game in its last seven tries with a win Wednesday at St. Francis, while the Lancer men couldn’t figure out the No. 3 Cougars.
Grace Women 74, St. Francis 67
The late-season momentum keeps building for Grace’s women’s basketball team with a 74-67 overtime upset of No. 25 St. Francis on Wednesday.
The Lady Lancers, winners of six of their past seven, secured the No. 4 seed in the Crossroads League with the win. Grace will host the quarterfinals of the CL Tournament on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center.
The Lady Lancers (16-13, 10-7 CL) will finish up the regular season at home on Saturday against No. 16 Taylor at 1 p.m.
Brooke Sugg’s 18 points and Vironnica Drake’s 16 points led Wednesday’s overtime victory.
Grace put itself in an early hole during the first quarter. The Cougars (16-13, 8-9 CL) jumped out to a fast 10-2 lead and kept pressure on Grace.
The Lady Lancers did not score their second basket until midway into the first quarter. Rachel Montgomery scored a late hoop in the quarter, but Grace still trailed 23-13 after 10 minutes.
USF scored first in the second quarter with a 3-pointer to pull ahead by 13, but the rest of the quarter was owned by Grace.
The Lady Lancers held the Cougars without a point for the next six minutes and went on an 11-0 run. Micaela Box scored five points in that spurt, and Sugg hit a triple as Grace sliced USF’s lead down to two.
The Cougars managed to hold onto a 34-30 lead at halftime.
Midway into the third quarter, Grace pulled ahead. Drake converted an and-1 to tie the score, and Pam Miller scored in the paint to put Grace on top 40-38.
Sugg then hit a triple to extend Grace’s lead, and the Lady Lancers stayed in front 47-45 entering the last quarter.
The Cougars opened up the fourth quarter with six straight points as Grace’s offense sputtered. Sugg hit a jumper to spark Grace, and Drake buried a 3-pointer to put the Lady Lancers back on top.
With 1:40 remaining, Lexi Minix muscled her way into the paint for a banked shot to give Grace a two-point lead. USF responded with a triple with one minute left and a free throw on the next possession after Grace missed a jumper.
Grace had just 10 seconds to tie the game facing a 61-59 deficit, and they nearly won it. Drake blew by her opponent and hit the layup while being fouled. She missed the free throw to keep the score tied.
USF missed on a chance to win the game, and Drake tried a desperation halfcourt heave for the win. Her shot miraculously went in, but the officials ruled her shot to be after the buzzer to send the game to overtime.
The teams traded baskets in overtime for the first four minutes, and the score remained tied 65-65 with 1:30 to play. Kelsie Peterson went 2-for-2 from the free throw line to give Grace a lead, and Sugg scored with 38 seconds left for a four-point cushion.
The Cougars misfired again on the next possession, and Grace secured the victory with five more free throws down the stretch.
Sugg’s 18 points came on 7-of-15 shooting, and Drake’s 16 points came with seven rebounds.
Box hit two triples for 12 points off the bench, and Miller had eight points and a game-high nine boards.
Peterson produced eight points, and Minix tallied seven points and five rebounds.
Grace shot 41 percent from the floor compared to 36 percent for USF. Grace also held a plus-7 advantage in rebounds, and the Lady Lancers were also 22-of-25 (88 percent) from the foul line.
St. Francis Men 99, Grace 81
Grace’s men’s basketball team could not slow down the offensive firepower of No. 3 St. Francis on Wednesday in a 99-81 defeat.
The Lancers (11-18, 4-13 Crossroads League) allowed USF to shoot 61 percent from the floor for the game, including a lethal 11-of-15 (73 percent) from beyond the arc.
Grace was extremely careful with the basketball, only committing two turnovers for the entire game. But the Lancers could only muster a 40 percent shooting performance.
One area where Grace excelled offensively was from beyond the arc. The Lancers buried 15 triples, including 5-of-7 from Jaret Sons and 4-of-6 from Matt Jennings. Jennings led Grace with 23 points and three assists, and Sons poured in 17 points and four boards off the bench.
The Cougars (23-6, 13-4 CL), who currently sit tied for first in the league standings, jumped out to a 14-4 lead on Wednesday.
Grace faced a double-digit lead for much of the half and went into halftime behind 48-38.
Grace found life early in the second half. Jennings gave Grace a spark by scoring five straight points, and Erik Bowen followed that up with a pair of buckets to cut USF’s lead down to nine.
On Grace’s next possession, Haden Deaton buried a 3-pointer to make the score 56-50 with 15:23 remaining.
The Cougars responded with a 6-0 run to reassert a 12-point lead, but Grace continued to fight. Sons and Stephen Halstead combined for three 3-pointers, keying an 11-3 run. But the Lancers’ momentum ran out soon after that spurt, and the Cougars eased away for the win.
Jennings shot 8-of-14 from the floor for his 23 points to go along with three assists, and Sons scored 17 points in just 21 minutes.
Logan Godfrey picked up a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds, and Deaton added 11 points and three assists.
Bowen scored six points, and Tim Swanson chipped in five points.
The Lancers will end the regular season at home on Saturday, hosting Taylor at 3 p.m. Saturday will also be Senior Day for the Lancers.