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When a team on its home floor forces 28 turnovers and allows the opposition to shoot just 36 percent from the field, you'd think the home team would win without much of a fight.

But last Friday night, the home team in question had just as many turnovers and had its share of problems shooting the ball as Piper defeated the Basehor-Linwood High School girls' squad, 48-35.

"I was really proud of the way the girls ran the offense," said BLHS head coach Mardy Robinson. "What I didn't like was that we couldn't put the ball in the basket and on their press we turned the ball over, making mistakes we shouldn't make.

Basehor-Linwood junior Courtney Reed goes up for a lay-up over Piper's Angie Mullins in the Lady Cats loss to Piper.

We know how to break a press and when we did it right we broke it every time. But when we hurried, got worried or impatient, that's when we turned the ball over. We can't allow that to happen."

Piper forced Basehor-Linwood into 27 turnovers and held the Lady Bobcats to just 14-of-46 shooting (30.4 percent) from the field. And it was just as bad at the free throw line for B-L, making just six of 18 attempts.

The game was a tight one in the first half with neither squad getting more than a four point lead, but Piper went into the intermission with a 22-19 advantage as Ashley Randle knocked in a three-pointer with 10 seconds left in the half.

The game remained close in the third quarter until the Lady Pirates took advantage of some Basehor-Linwood mistakes with three starters on the bench.

With Piper clinging to a 31-29 lead, the Lady Pirates scored nine straight points for a 40-29 advantage 1:25 into the final quarter.

"That was maybe a coaching mistake on my part," Robinson said. "Courtney (Reed) had some foul trouble and I wanted to get Jackie (Horn) some rest. I have confidence in the girls I put in but they just didn't box out on free throws. Piper got two lazy lay-ups and we threw the ball away. I've got to be able to trust those girls to go in and play. We have to work on that."

It was Jill Waltsak and Kim Stine who combined for all of Piper's points in the run, six of them on put-backs.

Basehor-Linwood got within seven points at 40-33 with 4:35 left, but when the Lady Bobcats had chances to put points on the board, shots went in and out of the basket. They also missed four straight free throws in a 37-second span.

"I don't have any idea where that came from," Robinson said, trying to explain the free throw shooting. "We practice free throws every day, it's a staple of our practice time. We can knock them down in practice, but we've got to knock them down in game situations."

Horn and Reed led BLHS with eight points each, combining to make just six-of-19 field goals between them, including a two-of-12 night from Horn.

"Obviously we're going to work on our shooting under pressure a little more and work on those free throws and breaking the press," said Robinson. "Hopefully we'll have a better outcome Friday."

Score by quarters:

Piper 8 14 16 10 48

Basehor-Linwood 8 11 10 6 35

Basehor-Linwood (0-3): Kelly Laffere 1-5 0-1 1 3, Jeni Purtee 2-8 1-2 2 5, Alex Jeannin 2-6 0-2 0 4, Jackie Horn 2-12 4-9 3 8, Courtney Reed 4-7 0-1 4 8, Emily Hoffman 0-2 1-2 1 1, Kara Lackner 0-0 0-0 5 0, Lesley Hancock 1-3 0-0 1 2, Tara Lucas 1-1 0-1 3 2, Ryan Wohletz 1-2 0-0 0 2, Aubrey Bittel 0-0 0-0 0 0. Totals: 14-46 6-18 20 35. Piper totals: 18-50 10-22 21 48.

Three-point goals (1-4): Laffere 1-2, Hancock 0-1, Jeannin 0-1; Piper 2-10. Rebounds (37): Horn 7, Purtee 6, Lucas 5, Reed 5, Laffere 4, Jeannin 3, Hoffman 2, Bittel, Lackner, Team 2; Piper 42. Assists (9): Jeannin 4, Hancock 2, Lackner, Laffere, Reed; Piper 7. Steals (12): Horn 4, Jeannin 2, Lackner 2, Laffere 2, Hancock, Hoffman; Piper 15. Blocked shots (1): Jeannin; Piper 2.

In the junior varsity contest, Piper broke open a tight game with a 21-11 run in the third quarter, defeating Basehor-Linwood, 54-46.

The Lady Pirates held a 26-25 lead at the intermission before outscoring the Lady Bobcats by 10 in the third quarter, taking a 47-36 lead into the final eight minutes.

Ryan Wohletz led Basehor-Linwood with 14 points.

Basehor-Linwood scoring: Lesley Hancock 5, Ryan Wohletz 14, Aubrey Bittel 5, Lindsay Cunningham 4, Heather Peeler 6, Sara Hashman 6, Tiffany Bates 0, Kindle Rose 6, Sara Chrisman 0.

Lady Bobcat Notes...

With her eight points against Piper, senior Jackie Horn needs just four more to pass Melissa Fisher (1995-98) for fourth place in school history. Horn currently has 664 career points.

Horn, with 132 career steals, needs seven more to become the all-time leader in that category. Kerri Golder (1994-98) is currently in first with 138.

• * * * *

• The Lady Bobcats will end the pre-holiday portion of their schedule this week. Basehor-Linwood will host Lansing on Friday night, then take on Tonganoxie at home on Tuesday.

All five games the Lady Cats will play before the break will have been played on the BLHS court.

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