Covenant Christian DeMotte’s Leanna Butler dives for a loose ball as Lakeland Christian Academy’s Tori Calizo pursues during the championship game of the Cougar Classic Saturday afternoon. (Photo by Mike Deak)

WINONA LAKE – Lakeland Christian Academy girls basketball head coach Allison Kauffman couldn’t believe what she saw Saturday afternoon. After making a career of scoring and rebounding in the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center, Kauffman could only stand and watch as her LCA roster could do neither down the stretch of a 49-28 loss to Covenant Christian DeMotte in the championship game of the Cougar Classic.

Kauffman, who finished second all-time in scoring and rebounding as a basketball standout at Grace College – the host site for the championships – had her team down just 29-24 heading into the fourth quarter. A four-second stretch became an eternity for the Cougars, however, as Hope Zylstra hit a bucket, then Skylar Boss picked up a loose ball off the inbounds and put in the layup. A 33-25 score jumped to 37-25, and moments later the lead spread to 14 after Desiree Holmes popped a bunny following a steal.

Grace College’s Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center hosted the two-day Cougar Classic, overseeing all of the final round matchups. (Photo by Mike Deak)

“Covenant hit some really big shots there in the fourth quarter and we couldn’t get anything to work,” Kauffman said. “We couldn’t buy a basket. Our girls played their hearts out, and I’m proud of them. But give Covenant credit, they hit a lot of big shots and gave themselves a lot of second chance opportunities.”

LCA struggled through 24 turnovers in the game, nearing a dozen in a disastrous 20-4 fourth quarter in favor of the tourney champs from DeMotte. To Covenant’s credit, it’s half court press unraveled LCA’s offense to open the fourth, and a handful of offensive rebounds and putbacks took a two-possession game early in the fourth into a blowout.

Bos had a big night for the tourney champs, scoring 20 points. Zylstra came home with 12 points – seven of those in the fourth quarter – and Holmes had five points.

LCA, which beat Covenant Christian DeMotte in the 2019 championship, had Natalie Norris and Jessi Calizo lead the team with eight points and a combined five rebounds and four steals. Tori Calizo had seven points and 11 rebounds and Jordan Gross added five boards and a three-pointer.

Offered Kauffman of her team’s rally in the third quarter, “We came out from halftime and really took care of the ball. Tori hit a big three in the corner that got us going and then unfortunately we went dry after that. It wasn’t that we didn’t get the looks, we just couldn’t hit anything.”

The Cougars settle at 8-9 this season after wins over Central Christian and Clinton Christian on Friday. LCA’s last five games have come in tournaments after playing two at Bethany before the holiday break.

“This game was a lot faster than the first two games, and you could see shots coming up short as the legs wore down,” Kauffman said of her team’s showing in the three-game tournament assignment. “Heading into the final month of the season, I think we are heading in the right direction, and playing in a championship game only helps the girls get a little more confidence.”

Clinton Christian reigned as the boys champion, putting away Covenant Christian DeMotte 59-44 in the boys bracket to wrap up the Cougar Classic boys tournament. Clinton opened the tournament with a 64-37 win over LCA and reached the title game with an impressive 75-54 win over Fort Wayne Canterbury Friday afternoon. The Couriers are 8-1 on the season.

Covenant Christian DeMotte raised the championship trophy after knocking off LCA in the girls final. (Photo by Pho Eades)