The Lakeland Lakers traveled to Mott Community College tonight to face the Southwestern Michigan Roadrunners in the District B semi-finals. The Lakers had a difficult first half shooting the ball and fell behind by 21 points at the break. Lakeland showed a lof of grit though as they battled back to make it tight in the 4th quarter before eventually falling 71-61 to the Roadrunners. The Lakers finished their season with an overall 13-9 record. In the first quarter, the Lakers shot just 10% from the field (2-20), were 0-4 from the arc, and had 6 turnovers. In the second quarter they improved a bit but still shot under 31% from the field (4-13) while committing 8 turnovers. With all of that, the Lakers went into the break trailing 39-18. In the 3rd quarter, the Lakers started to bounce back. Lakeland outscored the Roadrunners 24-20 in the quarter as they tried to climb back into the game. In the quarter, the Lakers were led by both Trinity Jackson and Lauren Perry who scored 8 points each. Akira Lacey also added 4 points in the quarter. The Lakers still trailed by 17 at the end of the period, 59-42. Lakeland was not done yet. The Lakers held a furious rally cutting the lead to 6 points a couple of times in the quarter before falling in the end. The rally started with a Lauren Perry layup with just over 8 minutes to play. After a Roadrunner miss, Monica Devine grabbed a rebound before Trinity Jackson scored to bring the Lakers within 13 at 59-46. After a Roadrunner turnover, Jackson scored again to make the score 59-48 with 7:18 to play. Following a Roadrunner foul, Monica Devine grabbed an offensive rebound to set up a Mya James layup to cut the lead to 9 at 59-50. After a Roadrunner miss and then foul, James sank two free throws to cut the Laker deficit to 7 points at 59-52 with 6:42 to play. Both teams would miss shots and have turnovers before SWM scored on a layup to increase the lead to 61-52. Trinity Jackson was then fouled and hit 1-2 free throws to make the score 61-53. After both teams missed some shots, Jackson was again fouled. Jackson connected on both free throws to bring the Lakers within 6 points at 61-55 with 4:23 to play. After a Roadrunner basket, Monica Devine would score a layup to make the score 63-57. After another Roadrunner basket, Mya James was fouled and sank both free throws to keep the Lakers within 6 points at 65-59 with 2:52 to play. SWM would score again before the Lakers missed a layup. Devine would then steal the ball before Mya James was fouled again. James hit both free throws and the Lakers were able to stay within 6 points at 67-61 with 2:12 to play. Unfortunately for Lakeland, they would miss their next couple of shots and the Roadrunners pulled away for the win.
Lakeland had 4 players finish in double digits. Trinity Jackson was the high scorer for Lakeland with 19 points by shooting 8-16 from the floor. Mya James scored 13 points by making 7-10 free throws while also adding 5 rebounds. Lauren Perry finished her night with 12 points and 8 rebounds while Monica Devine finished with a double-double by scoring 10 points and recording 12 rebounds. Akira Lacey finished with 4 points while Batoul Khaleefah added 3 points and 4 rebounds. Layla Von Berndt finished with 6 rebounds for the Lakers.
Gardy's Gab: "Southwestern Michigan is a good team. They played tough defense on us early and we shot the ball poorly most of the night. We turned up our defense in the second half allowing us to get back in the game; but it was just too much to overcome. It was a good season that just didn't end the way we would have hoped. Sophomores Mya James and Lauren Perry did an exceptional job leading this group of new players. I'm really proud of the heart this team showed during the season and tonight was no exception."