Lady Leopards pounce on Pups; remain undefeated

The undefeated Lady Leopards hosted the Lady Devil Pups of Lejeune on Friday night, looking to extend their unbeaten streak. That they did as they handed the Pups a 66-44 loss and grabbed their first home win of the season.

Jahmai Rich tipped it to A’miyah Smith to start the game, who got the quick pass to Areona McKoy under the basket for a score, putting the Leopards on the board first.

McKoy secured a rebound from an errant shot by the Devil Pups and Euro stepped her way around a defender for the early 4-0 lead. She hit almost the exact same motion on the Leopards’ next trip down the court, and they found themselves with a 6-2 lead with just over six minutes remaining in the first.

Lejeune snagged a couple more on a layup in front of the rim to close things back to 6-4.

A layup and then a swift assist from Smith to Rich gave Lakewood the 10-6 advantage, but the Devil Pups continued to fight and closed it back to 10-8. With exactly four minutes remaining in the opening quarter, Rich was sent to the line on a foul on her shot, but neither of the shots fell and the score stayed the same.

Lejeune tied the game at 10-all with under four minutes to go, and in response, the Leopards started a full-court press.

McKoy made her presence known on a powerful put-back, which drew a foul, but gave Lakewood the 12-10 lead after her foul shot missed. The Devil Pups went to the other end and were fouled, which gave them two free throws of their own, and they sank both to tie the game. The teams traded possessions before McKoy got a big block on an open drive down the lane from Lejeune, sending the ball far out of bounds with about 2:30 to play. The defensive pressure from Lakewood was too much, and the Leopards forced a turnover, which gave Alexis Rhodes a fast break layup to once again give them the lead, this time at 14-12.

As the clock moved toward the second period, so did the teams. Lakewood held an 18-14 lead going into the break, propelled by a long jumper from McKoy before the pause in action.

Rich grabbed a rebound early in the second quarter and McKoy took a steal coast-to-coast and missed a layup, but the uptick in defensive pressure was being showcased by Lakewood early in the second period.

McKoy finally completed the coast-to-coast move shortly after, as she swiped the ball and took it to the other end and scored. With 6:02 showing on the clock, Lakewood led, 22-14.

It was Smith on the next one that went coast-to-coast, as she completed the same thing McKoy had just done to extend the Leopards’ lead to 24-14 with just about five minutes remaining in the opening half.

Less than a minute later, the teams traded threes after the Devil Pups sank one and McKoy returned the favor. Lejeune sank another after McKoy missed a second attempt from beyond the arc, but the score remained at 31-20 with over three minutes to go.

Kiyah Braxton to Trinity Bell was the connection this time on a pass-and-shoot that netted the Leopards three more. Lakewood held a 34-24 lead with 2:30 to go in the first half. Rhodes added two threes of her own in succession before the half ended, and Lakewood climbed out to a 40-26 lead over the visiting Devil Pups.

Braxton dished a cross-court pass through the key on a breakaway to Rhodes, where she added two more. Despite a desperation layup attempt from Lejeune at the buzzer, the Leopards held onto the 42-26 lead as the teams moved to the halftime break.

Scoring started off strong in the second half for both teams, as through the first 2:30, Lakewood scored four and Lejeune two, making it a 46-28 game.

Smith made one of her free throws on a trip to the charity stripe with five minutes to go in the third. Later, Rhodes added a long jumper, and Lakewood had the 49-30 advantage. She doubled it up after a dish from McKoy gave her a wide open look at another long two.

Lakewood held a 53-32 lead with 3:07 to go in the third as the game continued to move in their favor and any chance of a comeback by the Devil Pups faded with each ensuing possession.

Scoring came to a halt for almost two minutes, but the Devil Pups sank a free throw with 1:39 left in the third quarter to make it a 53-33 game, still in Lakewood’s favor.

After Lejeune grabbed a couple more via free throws, the quarter ended with Lakewood holding the commanding lead at 53-35.

The stout defense from Lakewood continued even into the opening moments of the fourth quarter, as the Pups’ first possession was squandered with a a steal and a three from Rhodes at the other end.

McKoy fought through contact on a layup and added to the lead, and after her teammate grabbed another steal and fed her the long pass on the next possession, she found two more points on a wide-open score under the basket to give Lakewood the 60-35 advantage with 6:44 to play.

A tight defense from Karima Freeman, especially on the in-bound passes led to the McKoy show in the second half, as this was the outcome of seemingly every Lejeune possession in the latter stages of the game. Even the Devil Pups’ double teams weren’t effective in slowing her down.

After Rich blocked a shot and the Leopards moved the ball down the court, McKoy grabbed a put-back layup on a rebound to extend her team out to a 64-39 lead with 4:43 to play.

Just as it had in the third, scoring slowed for both teams in the fourth. Lakewood slowed their offense down to eat as much clock as possible, and Lejeune couldn’t get anything to fall in their hurried offensive approach. The only thing the Devil Pups had in their favor was the bonus, after Lakewood found themselves in foul trouble. Still, though, only three points were scored in over two minutes, and the Leopards had the 64-42 lead with 2:09 remaining.

McKoy lit fans up once more on a drive through the lane starting at half court, when she put the defender on metaphorical ice skates twice and Euro stepped her way to a layup, reminiscent of an ESPN highlight to give them the 64-42 advantage with under a minuet to go. The Pups would score once more, but the Leopards had the 66-44 lead as the final buzzer sounded.

“It’s always good to get the first game at home,” coach Lofton Kerr said. “I thought we played a little out of control at times, but it’s a good win. Anytime you win, it’s good. But, I want us to be a little bit more in control.”

The Lady Leopards moved to 4-0 on the season with the win. They will host Heide Trask on Thursday at 6 p.m. for the Chasity Melvin Holiday Tournament.