CLINTON —
After opening a double-digit lead over Lisbon in the first half and extending it to 15 early in the third quarter, Prince of Peace seemed to be sitting pretty in its homecoming game.
Lisbon (6-14, 4-12 Big East) had other ideas and went on an 8-0 run to cut the Prince of Peace lead to 31-24.
“I think a lot of that was a loss of communication on defense,” Prince of Peace coach Maggie Furlong said. “Defense is really what pulls us through the games. When that breaks down, teams are able to get back in the game. Then our offense goes away a little bit, too.”
The Irish (11-10, 8-7) stopped that quickly with an 8-1 run of their own and cruised from there to a 65-40 win Friday in girls basketball at Central Catholic Auditorium.
“Our defense picked up,” Prince of Peace junior Karli Atkinson said. “We started making our shots and free throws.”
Atkinson scored 14 of her game-high 19 points as the Irish closed the game on a 34-16 run, including four in a row to push the lead back to double figures at 35-25.
“We had some good movement, and that created opportunities,” Atkinson said.
Prince of Peace got a lot of easy transition points in the second half, too.
“Our transition game is huge for us, and a lot of that comes from playing good defense,” Furlong said. “We get those steals and we have a lot of girls who are fast and get up and down the court. When we get the ball out to them, we do a good job. A lot of that is Jackie Kokjohn. She seems to get out there every time, and we do a good job of finding her.”
Kokjohn scored eight of her 12 points in the second half, six coming on transition layups.
In the first half, senior Julia Isenhour was dominant offensively for Prince of Peace. She scored 10 of her 15 points before halftime, eight on putbacks after offensive rebounds. Isenhour, who was selected as homecoming queen, helped the Irish dominate the rebounding battle. She pulled down 19 boards as Prince of Peace outrebounded Lisbon 57-25.
The Irish struggled early in the game as Lisbon built a 6-1 lead over the first 2:39.
“We just weren’t focused,” Atkinson said.
“We started off a little slow,” Furlong said. “It wasn’t the best beginning, but we’re kind of notorious for that. The girls were able to keep it together and come back after that.”
The Irish closed the quarter on an 11-0 run and Lisbon never got closer than six after that.
PRINCE OF PEACE 65, LISBON 40
LISBON (6-14, 4-12) — Zeva Light 1 0-0 2, Danielle Heiken 3 0-0 6, Addison Heiken 2 0-0 4, Brittany Frey 0 2-3 2, Paige Felderman 0 0-0 0, Emily Light 1 0-0 3, Alison Givens 3 0-0 6, Cassandra Smith 1 2-2 4, Emma Hendricks 1 0-0 3, Alexa Moothart 4 2-4 10, Cassidy Moore 0 0-0 0, Jean Springsteen 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 6-9 40.
Prince of Peace (11-10, 8-7) — Krista Atkinson 1 0-0 2, Jackie Kokjohn 6 0-0 12, Andrea Aquilani 1 0-0 3, Megan Mulholland 1 0-0 2, Aaliyah Chapman 0 0-0 0, Erin Kuehn 1 0-0 2, Karli Atkinson 6 7-7 19, Sydney Laufenberg 0 1-2 1, Halee Vicks 2 0-0 4, Julia Isenhour 6 3-5 15, Lauren Pittman 1 3-4 5. Totals 25 14-18 65.
Lisbon 6 10 18 6 — 40
Prince of Peace 12 14 19 20 — 65
3-point goals — Lisbon 2 (Hendricks, E. Light); Prince of Peace 1 (Aquilani). Total fouls — Lisbon 16; Prince of Peace 14. Fouled out — none.
Sports
February 2, 2013
Irish girls build lead, hold off Lisbon comeback attempt
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