Saturday, February 18, 2012

East Ridge stops Leesburg, January 09, 2009

Leesburg High School's Jaleesa Blue fumbles the ball as East Ridge High School's Selina Archer avoids a collision, in Leesburg, on Tuesday, January 6, 2009. East Ridge won the game by one point 44 to 43.
Loss was Yellow Jackets first against a Lake County team since 2004 

FRANK JOLLEY
Sports Editor 

LEESBURG -- East Ridge High School girls basketball coach Angela House believes her team deserves to call itself the best team in Lake County. 

The Knights earned that right when Selina Archer scored 26 points, including the game-winning basket with 2 minutes, 7 seconds left in overtime, Tuesday to pace East Ridge to a 44-43 win against Leesburg. 

The loss was the Yellow Jackets' first against a Lake County team since 2004, when East Ridge defeated Leesburg in the district tournament. 

"This was a huge win for our girls and our program," House said. "They know what Leesburg basketball represents in Lake County and to beat a team that has been the (Class 5A) Final Four is a big deal. I think it shows how much we've grown as a team. These girls have worked very hard to reach this point and I think they deserve to call themselves the best team in Lake County." 

East Ridge (11-5) trailed until Archer, East Ridge's 6-foot-5 center, hit a turnaround shot with 3:30 to play in the third quarter to tie the game at 23. She scored again two minutes later to give the Knights their first lead of the game at 25-23. 

Jaleesa Blue, however, drained a three pointer at the buzzer to put the Yellow Jackets back on top, 28-27, heading into the fourth quarter. Blue's bomb was Leesburg's only three pointer in the game's first 24 minutes.
In fact, the Yellow Jackets went nearly seven minutes in the third quarter without a field goal. 

"Our shot selection was horrible," Leesburg coach Mark Oates said. "We didn't work for shots and settled for too many jumpers. Our plan before the game was to take the ball right at (Archer) and get her into foul trouble. We got a couple of shots blocked and started going away from what wanted to do. 

"We didn't come out with a lot of intensity and I was disappointed in our performance. I tell these girls that we can't just walk on the floor and expect to win, but they seem to think like that sometimes. I don't want to take anything away from East Ridge, but this wasn't Leesburg basketball tonight." 

Leesburg (12-4) had an opportunity to put some distance between themselves and East Ridge when Rebecca Roncone was whistled for a personal foul and a technical foul with 3:47 left in the game and leading 34-32. Waneta Carlisle went to line for four free throws, but hit only two. 

After Leesburg turned the ball over on the ensuing inbounds pass, Archer was fouled and hit a pair of free throws with 3:32 to play. East Ridge managed another steal and Roncone spotted up behind the three-point line and gave the Knights a 37-36 lead with 3:08 to play. 

Roncone backed that up with 15-foot jumper with 2:45 left for a 39-36 lead. 

Leesburg countered with a three pointer by Baylie Bridges to tied the game, but a runner by Tiana Lloyd gave Knights a 41-39 lead with 1:32 left. 

A jumper by Leesburg's Latoya Foster tied the game and sent the contest into overtime. 

In the extra period, Jade Alston staked the Knights to an early lead with a free throw and Leesburg's Jakia Johnson hit a turnaround to put the Yellow Jackets back in front 43-42 with 2:34 left, setting the stage for Archer's game winner. 

"I'm so proud of this team," House said. "We came in mentally prepared to play and didn't let Leesburg take us out of our game. Our goal every game is take care of the basketball and use our inside-outside game and show the discipline to take good shots. When you have a 6-foot-5 player, that's what you do. Most teams have to double-team her, so that leaves someone open and she has to find them. 

"Selina is getting more comfortable with that role and she's not letting teams frustrate her as much as she did earlier in the season. When we play like we're capable of playing this is the result we can expect." 

Oates said he will spend much of today's practice restoring the work ethic and dedication that his past teams have played with. He believes Tuesday's performance was an aberration and not an indication of things to come. 

"We might not even shoot a basketball during practice (today)," Oates said. "We always talk about playing with pride and discipline, but we didn't play with either (Tuesday). East Ridge did. That's something that I will get fixed before we play another game." 

Archer was the only player for East Ridge to score in double figures. Roncone added nine points and Lloyd scored six. 

For Leesburg, Foster led the way with 15 points, followed by Carlisle with nine. Bridges had seven and Johnson added five. 

Resources
Frank Jolley
Daily Commercial
www.dailycommercial.com
January 9, 2009
 
Leesburg Public Library
100 East Main Street
Leesburg, Florida 34748











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