LINCOLN – The Louisville girls kicked off a happy weekend Friday with a team effort that let those wearing purple and gold wear plenty of smiles at the final buzzer.
LHS enjoyed big scoring days from Tabby Gennaro and Morgan Manley and hit key free throws down the stretch to beat Johnson County Central in overtime 55-51. Manley scored a career-high 19 points and Gennaro tallied 16 points to lead the team's offense, but LHS head coach Wally Johnson said all 12 Lions played big roles in the East Central Nebraska Conference tournament consolation contest.
“I could name every single girl on our roster and talk about what they did to help us win today,” Johnson said. “This was truly a team win. We had a lot of girls step up and play really well. I'm proud of all of them.”
The teams traded leads throughout a first half that featured solid defense from both sides. Louisville forced Johnson County Central into a 6-of-25 shooting effort in the first half and JCC limited LHS to a 6-of-18 performance. Those numbers improved after halftime, as the Thunderbirds made 10 field goals and Louisville hit nine shots in the final 16 minutes of regulation.
The game's most controversial play happened with 1:45 to go in regulation with Louisville nursing a 39-36 lead. JCC guard Breanna Borrenpohl sank a long shot near JCC's bench that officials originally ruled a 2-pointer. JCC head coach Randy Miller argued during an ensuing Louisville timeout that Borrenpohl was beyond the 3-point line and that the game should be tied. Officials eventually agreed and changed the score just as both teams were leaving their respective huddles.
Gennaro and Borrenpohl traded 3-pointers over the next 50 seconds and two Manley free throws gave LHS a 44-42 lead with 30 seconds remaining. The Lions gave JCC (8-10) new life by missing three late foul shots to give the Thunderbirds a chance for a final shot. Thunderbird guard Brittney Lester penetrated into the lane with three seconds left and found Chelsea Borrenpohl for a game-tying baseline jumper as time expired.
Johnson said the Lions spent the pre-overtime huddle trying to regroup and rebuild the confidence that they had during most of the fourth quarter.
“What concerned me most was that we were trying to be patient and work the clock with the lead late in the game, and then in overtime we were going to have to start over and be aggressive again,” Johnson said. “The looks on their faces were a little concerning heading into overtime, but once they started playing they got back into it right away. They did a great job of starting over and playing with a lot of heart and effort.”
Louisville rolled out to a 49-44 lead within the first two minutes of overtime but Shelby Reilly scored five straight points to tie it with 40 seconds to go. Kaitlin Coughlin and Manley both sank free throws to give LHS a 52-51 lead before Gennaro calmly downed two foul shots with 21 seconds remaining to make it 54-51. Coughlin added an insurance free throw with 5.1 seconds to go to clinch the victory.
Johnson said he was glad to see Gennaro play well in her final ECNC tournament game. The senior played all 36 minutes and was tasked with the job of guarding Breanna Borrenpohl for much of the day.
“Tabby didn't get a break at all,” Johnson said. “She's a trooper. She hit some big shots there late and she played her heart out. She had a great game.”
Coughlin added seven points and Taylor Mohler posted six points to help the Lions (7-11) pick up a key late-season win. The team will play at Raymond Central Tuesday at 6 p.m. before traveling to Weeping Water to face the Indians Thursday at 6 p.m.
Johnson County Central 6 11 12 15 7 – 51
Louisville 8 10 11 15 11 – 55
Johnson County Central (51)
B. Borrenpohl 6-14 1-1 17, Remund 2-11 2-2 6, Lester 4-11 1-3 12, C. Borrenpohl 3-5 0-1 6, Pfister 0-2 1-2 1, Reilly 3-6 0-0 7, Faris 1-3 0-0 2, Hupka 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-52 5-9 51.
Louisville (55)
Gennaro 4-13 5-8 16, Manley 5-9 9-14 19, Mohler 3-7 0-0 6, Coughlin 2-7 3-8 7, Zaracki 0-1 0-0 0, Drake 1-3 0-0 2, Dittberner 1-4 1-2 3, Minchow 0-0 2-4 2, Dean 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-46 20-36 55.
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