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On this date in area sports history…
On this day six years ago, Jan. 13, 2003, South point guard Shawna Lollis scored 23 points off the bench to lead the ‘Cats to a victory over city rival Catholic Central.
Click the jump for the complete story.
Published in the Jan. 14, 2003 edition of the Springfield New-Sun:
LOLLIS A TROUBLE-MAKER FOR IRISH
SOUTH GUARD COMES OFF BENCH TO POST 23 AGAINST CENTRAL
By KEVIN VAN BRIMMER, News-Sun Sports Writer
After four minutes Monday night, South girls basketball coach Lee Ann Ballard turned to Shawna Lollis and asked if she was ready to go in.
“She told me, ‘Coach, I’ve been ready to go in,’ ” Ballard said.
So Ballard sent in the sophomore guard with the Wildcats down 11-2 to visiting Catholic Central, and Lollis immediately showed just how ready she was. Lollis rattled off six straight points and didn’t slow down on her way to a game-high 23 points in South’s 79-53 non-conference rout of the Irish.
Usually the Wildcats’ starting point guard, Lollis missed Saturday’s practice and sat to start Monday’s game as a result.
“I got in trouble and had Saturday school,” Lollis said sheepishly after the game. “So I knew I wouldn’t start. I just got in and got focused on getting us back into the game. I was ready.”
It was an important win in terms of tournament seeding for South. With the draw just a week and a half away, the Wildcats stand at 8-5. Ballard said that to get a seed in the Dayton sectional, they need to be at 10-5 next weekend.
“That will probably get us the six, seven or eight seed,” she said. “We’ve got Trotwood and Sidney before the draw. … We want the six or seven seed.”
Lollis scored nine of her points in a 15-4 South run spanning the first and second quarters. That snapped the Wildcats (8-5) out of a funk and put them in a 19-15 lead two minutes into the second quarter.
Central (7-6) battled back to take a 26-23 lead with 3:45 left in the half, but it was all South from there.
The Wildcats’ athleticism began to take over. They used it to pressure Central up and down the court. The result was a 14-3 spurt fueled by Irish turnovers, giving South a 37-29 lead at the break.
“I think (in the first quarter) we kind of took this game for granted,” Ballard said. “We’ve been talking since the Centerville game (last week) about making each other work hard. Teams are going to come out and lolly-gag, and I knew Central was going to come in fired up. We needed to pick up the defense, and I think we did that.”
South maintained a lead near double digits throughout the third quarter before finally busting the dam in the final two minutes of the period and the first minute of the fourth.
South’s three double-figure scorers on the night, Lollis, Amanda Jackson and Danielle Roe, combined for 14 points in a 16-0 run during that span that put the game out of reach at 61-39. The Wildcats forced six Central turnovers in the run.
“We knew had to play defense,” Lollis said. “We started playing as a team.”
Jackson scored six straight to start the fourth. She and Roe finished with 16 points. The Wildcats were so effective in the second half that, save for seven missed shots in two possessions, they missed just nine attempts from the floor in the second half. South posted 40 points in the final 16 minutes.
“That’s good. That will help with the percentages,” Ballard said. “A lot of those (were) in transition, a lot of layups. We started attacking in the second half.”
Central was led by Erin Fenton’s 16 points. She was the only Irish player to reach double-figures. Andrea Hackett, suffering from the flu, added nine as did Ann Allen.
“We had a great start,” said Central coach Gary Falkenbach. “They just have too many athletes. You think we’re going to see anything like that in the OHC (Ohio Heritage Conference)? I was impressed. Lollis, she going to be a good player.”
CATHOLIC CENTRAL (53) _ Miller 3 2-3 8, Hackett 3 2-6 9, Allen 3 0-0 9, Culley 1 0-0 3, Fenton 6 4-7 16, Hashemi 4 0-2 8. Totals: 11 8-18 53.
SOUTH (79) _ Lollis 10 2-2 23, Bell 3 0-0 6, Jackson 7 2-3 16, Green 2 0-0 4, Roe 8 0-0 16, Threats 3 0-1 6, Wade 4 0-0 8. Totals: 37 4-6 79.
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