Grace Davis came into Greg Leland Gymnasium on Thursday night and went toe-to-toe with undefeated Lathrop, which pulled away in the second half for a 55-31 Western Athletic Conference win.
“The key to what we do is the bigs touching the ball, and the bigs weren’t touching the ball in the first half,” Lathrop coach Dwayne Davis said. “The guards were just zipping up and down the floor, they weren’t even in position to take a good shot, and they were just shooting the ball.
“We got beat down the floor a couple of times early, so we didn’t get good position and gave up some early baskets that ordinarily I don’t think we would have given up. We were lethargic, and I don’t know why. We have been working on a lot of skill stuff and not so much in-your-face, so guess what — tomorrow, we are going to have an in-your-face practice, even if it’s Friday.”
Lathrop (9-0 WAC, 23-0 overall) led by just five, 21-16, at the half due in large part to Grace Davis (3-5, 6-15) grabbing 29 first-half rebounds. Grace Davis won the battle of the boards 44-36, but Lathrop forced 31 turnovers while allowing 31 total points, five in the third period.
Lathrop’s Jaleiyah Ray (six rebounds, six steals, assist) helped her team turn things around in the second half when she scored nine of her game-high 22 points in the third period and added seven more points in the final quarter.
“In the first half, we weren’t really together,” Ray said. “We weren’t really locked in, so we had to make that switch. We had to come together in the locker room, get our mind right and come together on defense.
“Defense wins games, and we also had to run the floor on offense.”
Audrina Fisher (six points) helped Lathrop maintain the gain in the fourth quarter with three scrappy steals in the period, and she grabbed four of her five rebounds in the second half.
“At halftime, I really wasn’t feeling myself,” Fisher said. “So, I had to just calm down on the bench, get my mind right and get myself together so I could come back in the second half and fix what I needed to.”
Lathrop’s Shakara Porter flirted with a double-double at nine points and eight rebounds with five steals, three assists and a block. Jaylah Seabron (three rebounds, two assists, steal) and Aisha Wiseman (four steals, three assists, two rebounds) added six points apiece.
Reagan Jamison led Grace Davis with 12 points.
Lathrop travels to Ceres on Monday at 7 p.m.
Junior varsity
Lathrop 59, Grace Davis 7
Lathrop held Grace Davis scoreless in the first period and turned the ball over only seven times.
Lathrop’s Faith Allen (five assists, four steals, three rebounds, block) led all scorers with 21 points and Zoha Ali (six steals, five rebounds, two blocks, assist) added 20 points. Sariah Hilton (three points, three steals, block) pulled down eight rebounds.
