STEVE GOLDMAN
RICHMOND HEIGHTS – The Lakeside girls came up big in the even quarters on Wednesday. That was good enough to pull out a tense 58-53 non-conference victory at Richmond Heights.
The Dragons (3-8, 1-6) outscored the Spartans 23-11 in the second period to turn an 11-7 deficit into a 30-22 halftime advantage.
“The good thing tonight for us is we made two big runs,” Lakeside coach Rob Livingston said. “We pressed a lot in that second quarter, and it gave us the momentum going in at halftime.”
Richmond Heights (1-10) got 22 points including four 3-pointers from Kirstyn Baker. However, the sophomore fouled out with 6:43 remaining.
With Baker putting in 12, the Spartans turned the tables after the break with a 23-8 stretch that resulted in a 45-38 lead with 7:33 left in the contest. However, Lakeside had the last burst and the last laugh, as it outscored its foe 20-8 the rest of the way.
With some heavy pressure defense, the Dragons forced 13 turnovers in the fourth quarter while holding Richmond Heights to 1-of-17 shooting. Lakeside did cough it up eight times itself during that time frame, but also went 9-of-12 from the foul line over the final 3:22 after converting just 6-of-20 beforehand. Megan Frye (16 points) hit a pair with 54.2 seconds remaining to give them the lead for good at 55-53, and Summer Kelly sank two more with 37 seconds left to push to 57-53.
Frye (16 points) had scored three baskets and dished out an assist in a span comprising 1:38, to move Lakeside from the 45-38 deficit to a 46-all tie. The Spartans went back on top 49-46, but Lakeside caught them on free throws.
“I think we did a lot of the good things in the fourth quarter,” Livingston said. “We played aggressive, we played with our heads up and played with intensity, and that was our biggest key tonight.”
Dianna Morris had 13 points for the Dragons including four-of-six foul shooting in the final frame before fouling out. Teammate Sallie Christian tallied 10, with her putback giving her team a 52-50 lead at the 3:28 mark.
Shanay Robinson had 12 points for Richmond Heights, which went 10 of 17 from the line.
Goldman is a freelance writer from South Euclid.
