LeBoeuf hands Lady Dragons first loss of season
It’s been a while since the Warren girls have lost a basketball game – 317 days to be exact.
Fort LeBoeuf made sure the streak ended there, handing the Lady Dragons a 43-38 setback at Joseph A. Massa Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon. It was the first loss for Warren since the first round of the state playoffs last season to Pine-Richland.
“It’s been a while since they’ve beat us and it’s something they wanted,” said Warren coach Lisa LaVan of the Lady Bison. “They came out and got after it today.”
Warren led just once in the game, 2-0, but got within a point on three separate occasions in the fourth quarter, the last of which came on a Margo Loutzenhiser 3-pointer with 4:03 remaining.
They couldn’t get over the hump, however, and that was in large part due to LeBoeuf’s 1,000-point scorer Kaylee Young. The senior scored six of her 20 points from the free throw line in the final two minutes to lift her team to the win.
The Lady Dragons (10-1 overall, 4-1 Region 6) had several chances to tie or take the lead, but were unable to convert.
“I told them 100 times, free throws and bunnies, if you don’t make your free throws and bunnies that’s what’s going to cost you a game,” LaVan said. “In the end, without a doubt that’s what cost us the game.”
The Lady Bison (11-1, 5-0) got a pair of three’s from Alayna Seggi in the first quarter to jump out to a quick lead and a jumper by Young to open the second gave them a double-digit advantage, 15-4.
Warren responded with an 8-3 run of their own, capped by an Alanna Hultberg triple, and it looked as if they would go into halftime down just five. But Young responded with a deep three as time expired, making it 23-15.
“They came out with a little different game plan than we’re used to seeing,” noted LaVan. “We came out a little flat and they jumped on us pretty good. It’s a game of runs and we didn’t answer them as much as we should have.”
Showing the resiliency of a defending District 10 champion, the Lady Dragons came out strong in the third quarter. Margo Loutzenhiser, who had just two points at halftime, scored six points in the third, the last of which came on a stepback jumper, that, coupled by a 3-pointer from sister Maddie and a pair of buckets from Hultberg, cut the deficit to 30-28 at the end of the third.
The younger Loutzenhiser hit a pair of big three’s in the fourth, part of her team-high 14 points, but it was the Lady Bison who were able to finish strong in the final minutes.
“We’re going to learn a lot from this,” LaVan said. “We learn more from losses than wins and we’re going to learn a lot from this for sure. This team, you don’t have to lay it out. They know, they’re frustrated. They’re winners, gamers and there’s not much I have to say to them. We’ll bounce back. The season is still very young.”
The rematch is Feb. 6 at Fort LeBoeuf.
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UP NEXT
Warren: Hosts Strong Vincent today
Fort LeBoeuf: Hosts East today
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FORT LEBOEUF (43)
Vogt 0-0-0-0, MacQuarrie 4-2-4-11, Young 6-6-7-20, Seggi 2-0-0-6, Kucenski 0-0-0-0, Strain 2-0-0-6, Totals 14-8-11-43
WARREN (38)
Al. Hultberg 3-2-4-9, Mad. Loutzenhiser 2-0-0-5, Wilson 1-1-3-3, Mar. Loutzenhiser 6-0-0-14, Au. Hultberg 3-0-0-7, Wortman 0-0-0-0, Wood 0-0-0-0, Totals 15-3-7-38
By Quarters
Fort LeBoeuf 13 10 7 13 – 43
Warren 4 11 13 10 – 38
Three-point FGs: Fort LeBoeuf (7) – Seggi 2, Young 2, Strain 2, MacQuarrie; Warren (5) – Mar. Loutzenhiser 2, Mad. Loutzenhiser, Al. Hultberg, Au. Hultberg
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