By Laura Stabbert
ELDRED — The visiting Livingston Manor Lady Wildcats defeated the Eldred Lady Yellowjackets, 59-33, Thursday night in an Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA) Division VI game.
Despite the 26-point difference at the end of the game, the first half remained close.
After the first quarter, it was a four-point game with Manor ahead, 12-8.
The score would stay close and the Lady Wildcats were ahead 24-19 at the half.
After the intermission, senior center Chaz Reed and senior forward Danielle Baker became a force down low for Manor. They scored off passes from their guards and on several rebounds of missed shots, which quickly increased the Lady Wildcats’ lead to 36-23.
Sophomore guard Marissa Diescher also contributed to the scoring run by finding open lanes and driving to the basket to score. Diescher recorded a team high 15 points for Manor and Reed added 13 points.
Though Manor seemed to have found a groove, the Lady Yellowjackets battled back and the third quarter ended in Manor’s favor, 39-30.
In the fourth quarter the Lady Wildcats started executing better defense, and that proved to be vital to their win. The Lady Wildcats’ strong defense would only allow Eldred to score three points in the fourth quarter, while they would score 20 to break the game open.
“Eldred played hard and gave us a game,” Manor Coach Kevin Clifford said.
“In the second half we started to play defense, our defense was key,” he added.
The win improved Manor’s record to 8-3 overall and 4-1 in Div. VI. Eldred dropped to 3-6 overall and 1-4 in Div .VI.
“It came down to fundamentals, we needed to box out, Manor’s second rebounds in the third and fourth quarters killed us,” Eldred Coach Frank Kean said. “I have a very young team. I start three 10th-graders and one junior, but we’re going to get there.”
By “getting there” Kean was referring to the Lady Yellowjackets becoming a stronger team in the coming seasons as they gain more experience.
One of those sophomores whom Kean referred to is Meaghan Hazen, who had a double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds.