Erik Boal
LANCASTER -- Fred Largent said that if he'd had his running shoes with
him, he probably would have relieved some frustration by taking a long
run through the city of Lancaster.
The Village Christian girls' basketball coach wound up venting in the
Paraclete High locker room Saturday night, partaking in a lengthy
cooling-off period after witnessing his team's fourth-quarter collapse
against the Spirits.
After leading by a comfortable margin for the first three quarters of
their Alpha League contest, the Crusaders fell apart in the final eight
minutes, missing their first 12 shots and committing 11 turnovers, which
allowed Paraclete to rally for a 48-42 victory.
"We basically gave the game up," said Largent, whose squad shot three
of 22 (13.6%) from the field and four of 10 (40%) from the free-throw
line in the final quarter.
"It was a total meltdown on our part on offense and defense. We didn't
execute when we needed to and they did."
After forcing 15 turnovers and limiting Paraclete to just three-of-27
shooting (11.1%) in the first half, it appeared that Village Christian
(3-14, 0-1 in league) would cruise to its first league win.
But Paraclete (5-11, 2-0) slowly began to cut into the Crusader lead,
trimming it to three late in the third quarter before finally going on
top, 33-32, on Nikki Cordova's basket with 5:45 remaining.
Despite making just one of her first 12 shots, Cordova stepped up in
the second half to make six of her final 12, scoring 20 of her game-high
23 points in the final 16 minutes.
The Spirits' point guard tallied six of those points during an 8-0 run
that gave Paraclete a 41-33 advantage with 4:01 left, and Village
Christian would get no closer than six the rest of the way.
Erin Michael also played well down the stretch for the Spirits,
scoring nine of her 15 points in the final seven minutes, including five
of six from the free-throw line as Paraclete connected on 11 of 18
(61.1%) attempts in the fourth.
"This puts us in serious trouble in league," said Largent, whose squad
travels to rival L.A. Baptist at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
"Now we have to beat Paraclete as well as L.A. Baptist twice. We have
to do a better job on the boards and we have to run our offense better."
Charlotte Causly led the Crusaders with 13 points and nine rebounds,
Christina Thongkham added nine points, six rebounds and four steals, and
Ashley Santos had seven points and eight rebounds.
BOX SCORE
Village Christian*10*11*10*11*--*42
Paraclete*5*6*15*22*--*48
VILLAGE CHRISTIAN -- Causly 13, 9 rebounds and 3 steals, Thongkham 9
and 4 steals, Santos 7 and 8 rebounds, Hoffman 6 and 6 steals,
Katzenmeyer 3 and 3 steals, Aguilar 2, Pettet 2 and 12 rebounds.
* Three-pointers: Thongkham.
PARACLETE -- Cordova 23, 9 rebounds and 4 steals, Michael 15 and 5
steals, Watts 4 and 12 rebounds, Borquez 2 and 8 rebounds, Little 2,
Worden 2 and 8 rebounds.
* Three-pointers: Cordova 3, Michael.
