The NJCAA's 12th ranked Lady Lakers basketball team played host to the Edison State Chargers on Ssturday afternoon and came away with a 63-59 victory. The win was the 18th in a row for the Lady Lakers and pushes their record to 19-1 overall and 8-0 in the OCCAC. With the loss, the Chargers fell to 18-3 and 7-1. This game was anticipated to be a battle throughout and it lived up to its billing. Lakeland got off to a strong start in this game and led 18-12 after one quarter. Rayonna Peterson played strong interior defense early on to help trigger the lead. In the 2nd quarter, Edison got into some foul trouble and that allowed the Lakers to extend it's lead going into the half to 9 points, 33-24. In the second half, the Chargers worked to change the tide. Both teams traded baskets throughout and the lead remained unchanged after 3 quarters with a score of 48-39. The Chargers really picked up their play during the final period as their defensive intensity was turned up. Edison State even managed to take the lead by 1 point with just over a minute left. Lakeland then got a huge offensive rebound and put-back from Peterson off of a Makayla Cooper drive. This gave Lakeland the lead back for good. Gianna Pegoraro was able to salt the game away at the free throw line for the last minute of play and the victory.
It was clear in this game the Chargers were focused on taking away the outstanding play of Armani Jackson. When teams focus on certain players like that, the Lakers have plenty of other players that are capable of stepping up. In this game, freshman Gianna Peterson finished with a game high 21 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists. Freshman Rayonna Peterson was also outstanding scoring 18 points, adding 9 rebounds, and a team high 6 blocks. Sophomore Armani Jackson finished with 7 points and 9 rebounds while Makayla Cooper finished with 12 points. Sophomore point guard Julie Hajdu finished with 6 assists.
Gardy's Gab: "This was a hard fought victory. Edison State is a good team and they really challenged us. I was very happy with the way Gianna, Rayonna, Makayla - really all of the players contributed in their own way. It was a good team victory after facing some adversity in the 4th quarter. We've got to turn the page on this and keep working as we have two important road games next week."
Next up: The Lady Lakers will hit the road next week as they travel to Terra State on Wednesday night to face the Titans. Game time is 5:30 pm. Next Saturday, the Lakers will travel to Clark State to take on the Eagles in a 1:00 pm tilt.
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