Late Burst Beats Raiders (1-31-12)
Louisville girls 58, Mead 44

Louisville used a 15-0 run to in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter to turn a four point deficit into an 11 point lead on their way to a 58-44 win over the Mead Raiders in semi-final action of the East Central Nebraska Conference basketball tournament in the Lion gym.

Behind 40-36, the Lions’ Sam Lane, a 6’ 0” sophomore scored seven of her career-high 14 points during the outburst with Natalie Minchow and Morgan Dittberner adding four points apiece.

Mead freshman Lauren Taylor ended the spurt on a successful free throw with 2:43 remaining then added a 3-pointer on the next Raider possession to tighten the score at 51-44.

But those were the only Mead points of the quarter as the Lions ended the game with Minchow connecting on 1-of-2 free throws while Dittberner dropped in all four of her shots from the line. A Sydney Stander steal and lay-up with 36 seconds left accounted for the final score of 58-44.

The Lions began the game with an 11-0 run, eventually settling for a 19-8 lead at the end of the first period. But the pesky Raiders continued to compete behind the play of junior guard Julia Schnell, who scored 16 of her game-high 20 points in the middle two periods. When Taylor dropped in a pair of 3s late in the third quarter, the Raiders held a 40-36 lead with eight minutes remaining.

That’s when Louisville’s fourth quarter spree took back the momentum, eventually giving the Lions their latest victory in a 13-5 season.

Minchow’s 12 points and 14 rebounds gave the veteran forward her fifth double-double of the season while Dittberner joined Lane to tie for a team-high 14 points. Raegan Holl came off the bench to tally 10 points, a career-high for the sophomore guard.

LHS will now face top-seeded Elmwood-Murdock, who defeated Palmyra 51-38, at 6:15, Friday, February 3 at Southeast Community College.

	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4
Louisville	19	10	7	22	=	58
Mead	8	19	13	4	=	44

Louisville	2FG/FGA	3FG-FGA	FT- FTA	Reb	F	Ast	Steal	Tot. Pts.
Holl, Raegan	2	2	0-0	2	2	-	-	10
Stander, Sydney	3	0	0-2	7	1	-	-	6
Higginbotham, Paige	0	0	0-0	1	0	-	-	0
Zaracki, Taylor	1	0	0-0	4	4	-	-	2
Minchow, Natalie	5	0	2-4	14	1	-	-	12
Dittberner, Morgan	5	0	4-4	6	0	-	-	14
Derby, Carlee	0	0	0-0	0	1	-	-	0
Marcoe, Jordyn	0	0	0-0	1	1	-	-	0
Lane, Sam	6	0	2-4	6	3	-	-	14
Novotny, LeighAnn	0	0	0-0	1	3	-	-	0
Totals	22	2	8-14	42	16	-	-	58

Mead	2FG	3FG	FT- FTA	Reb	Ast	F	Tot. Pts.
Schnell, Julia	4	1	9-14	-	-	0	20
Nygren, Maddy	4	0	1-2	-	-	2	9
Taylor, Lauren	1	3	3-4	-	-	2	14
Charles, Miranda	0	0	1-2	-	-	3	1
Pearson, Lindsey	0	0	0-2	-	-	0	0
Patocka, Devynn	0	0	0-0	-	-	3	0
Ruhe, Amanda	0	0	0-0	-	-	1	0
Totals	9	4	14-24	21	-	11	44
	Statistics are unofficial