The562’s coverage of Long Beach Poly is sponsored by Bryson Financial
Looking to advance to the semifinals for the second time in two years, the Long Beach Poly girls’ basketball season came to an end Saturday night after a 64-48 loss to Orange Lutheran.
The Lancers came flying out of the gates as Kelly Garrity and Princess Cassell combined for seven unanswered points to start the game.
But, Poly responded after Brooklyn Taylor hit a free throw and Jazmine Shamburger hit a three to cut the lead to 7-4 in the first period.
As the Lancers did a majority of the night, they responded with timely threes to put a stop to Jackrabbit runs.
“We could never get rhythm,” Poly coach Carl Buggs said. “And then the shots we did have wasn’t falling and (Orange Lutheran) was coming out making shots.”
Emalynn Vong was just one of the Lancers that hit a three to give Orange Lutheran a 13-8 lead after the first quarter.
Poly didn’t back down as Joy Anderson led the Jackrabbits on a 8-4 run scoring all six of her points in the second period as they took their only lead of the night, 18-17.
Cassell stopped the Jackrabbits run and gave the Lancers the lead right back after she hit a three – one of eight threes the Orange Lutheran made on the night – to put them back on top 20-18.
“They had the ball movement,” Brooklyn Taylor said. “They were able to make shots from far distances and we weren’t able to close out fast enough.”
Garrity led the Lancers with a game-high 15 points as she was the captain of the offense and made all the right passes to find open looks for her teammates.
After trailing 30-21 at halftime, Poly went on another run as they tried to climb back into the game as Bailey Prewitt scored six of her nine points on the night to cut the deficit to four points.
But as the Lancers responded with a Melanie Stewart three and Orange Lutheran controlled things the rest of the night keeping Poly at arm’s reach.
“They eventually just kind of wore us down,” Buggs said. “They won every facet of the game, they’re great shooters.”
Taylor scored a team-high 13 points for the Jackrabbits.
