By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
Junior Shae Lewis scored 15 points, senior Kianna Herrera scored 13 and senior Sloan Lewis dropped in 10 as the No. 5 Bishop LeBlond girls (5-0) earned a 54-39 win over previously unbeaten St. Joseph Christian Tuesday night.
LeBlond, which had won its first four games by a minimum of 41 points, had its toughest test of the season thus far Tuesday, but still the Eagles never trailed.
LeBlond grabbed a 20-8 lead after the first quarter after a pair of early threes - one by Shae Lewis and another by Herrera.
After scoring just five points in the second quarter, the Eagles added 14 to their column in the third quarter, starting the second half on a 9-0 run.
"I think just overall, they executed better offensively in the second half than what we anticipated we would do in the first half," LeBlond coach Jackie Ziesel said. "Overall, they played hard. They played aggressive."
St. Joseph Christian (3-1) didn't give up. After not making a single three in the first half, the Lions knocked down five in the second half. But even so, Christian never got to within single digits over the final two quarters.
Turnovers and a lack of rebounding were nagging problems throughout for the Lions.
"We're a young team," Christian coach Erin Patrick said. "(LeBlond) is an experienced team. They're a district champion, but we need a game like that. Every game we've played this year is against a winning team. So, it's a positive for us. Maybe didn't play our best, but at least we have something to measure it up against now, don't we?"
Freshman Lexi McDaniel led the Lions with 11 points, including three made three-pointers. Sophomore Chloe Burnham also scored 11, and sophomore Jaci Jorgensen added nine.
LeBlond boys bury nine threes, outlast Christian in physical battle
Bishop LeBlond had four players finish in double figures, and outlasted a tough bout with St. Joseph Christian, as the Eagles got past the Lions 62-51 Tuesday.
Seniors Chris Gouldan and Noah Eidmann led their team with 12 points each, while junior Jake Korell added 11 and senior Alex Libel had 10.
"It's going to help us out in the long run to have all of these players being able to score," Eidmann said. "Not just one or two guys."
St. Joseph Christian had an early 7-6 lead midway through the first, but the Eagles (4-1) started to open things up. Two made threes by Gouldan sprung LeBlond to a 19-9 lead after the first.
The Eagles carried a 33-22 lead into the locker room, but could never fully pull away. The Lions (3-2) got nine points in the third quarter from senior Camden Lutz alone, but LeBlond kept their opposition at arm's length down the stretch, maintaining a double-digit lead throughout.
Even still, they know there's room for improvement.
"I don't think we played particularly well," LeBlond coach Mitch Girres said. "Our kids weren't locked into our game plan, or what we wanted to do. We shot way too many threes, and that's credit to St. Joe Christian. They did a really good job of preparing and keeping us from doing things we wanted to do."
Lutz and fellow senior Carson Bowman combined for 35 points - Bowman had 18, Lutz 17. The Lions clogged the lane, forcing the Eagles to shoot the deep ball throughout.
It worked this time around, but Eidmann knows the team must get back to finding points in the paint.
"We have to start scoring in the paint more," he said. "We can't just shoot threes every single game, because we're not going to make every single three. We have to get Chris (Guldan) and Jake (Korell) the ball, because they're good scorers inside the paint."
Both St. Joseph Christian teams are home to Rock Port Friday, while LeBlond heads home to host Stanberry on Friday as well.
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