HAYDEN – Good Hope looked to not get eliminated on the second day of the Hayden Christmas Tournament. Unfortunately, they did, as they fell to the Cleveland Lady Panthers, 63-52.
Cleveland got off to a fast start as Hitzeit Lemus hit two threes and Savannah Carty added a layup to give them an 8-0 lead. Good Hope got on the scoreboard with 4:51 left on a Kate Kent bank shot down low. The Lady Panthers stretched their lead to 14-4 on a Kaitlyn McAnnally three-pointer. They went into the second quarter leading, 16-7.
After Cleveland increased their lead to 20-8 on a Kiley Adams layup, the Lady Raiders caught fire, behind Sadie Abbott, Kent and Leyton Seal. Abbott hit a layup to cut the lead to 20-10, then after Milieia Ray went 1 of 2 from the line, Seal got red-hot, scoring five quick points, then Kent added a layup to cut the lead to 21-18, forcing a Cleveland timeout with 2:36 remaining in the first half. On the next possession, Seal got a huge steal and got fouled. She hit both free throws to make it a one-point game at 21-20.
Each team traded baskets after a Good Hope turnover. After Kent cut the lead to 25-23 off of Abbott's third assist of the night, Cleveland looked to end the half on a high note. Lemus got fouled by Savanna Derrick at the buzzer. She hit both free throws to give the Lady Panthers a 27-23 lead at the half.
Carty hit a three to increase the lead to 30-23. Good Hope made another run to get back in the game. Free throws by Kent cut the lead to 30-25, then a steal by Woodall put her at the line. She hit both to make it a one-possession game at 30-27. After Woodall hit a layup to make it 32-29, they forced a Lady Panther turnover. Derrick hit 1 of 2 from the line. After she missed the second free throw, Good Hope got the rebound and Kent got fouled after hitting a short jumper. She completed the 3-point play to give the Lady Raiders their first lead of the game, 33-32, with 4:10 remaining in the third quarter.
Each team swapped the lead on their next offensive possessions. Alex Stansell hit a jumper to increase their lead to 37-34, but the Lady Panthers got it together quickly as they finished the quarter on a 11-2 run to take a 45-39 lead after three.
Lemus and Carty made sure that Good Hope did not make another run in the game as they scored the team's first ten points of the fourth quarter to swell the lead to 55-39 and the Lady Raiders finally put their first point on the scoreboard on a free throw by MaKailey Speegle to cut the lead to 55-40 with 3:50 remaining in the game, but it was too little, too late as Cleveland advanced to take on Hanceville at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
Lemus hit five threes en route to a 24-point night and Carty finished with 17. Cleveland improves to 6-6 on the season.
Kent led Good Hope with 20 points. Seal had nine, and Abbott finished with eight. They fall to 5-10 on the season. Their next game will be in 2017 on Jan. 3 when they travel to West Point.
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