WEST PORTSMOUTH – The Notre Dame Lady Titans picked up a road SOC win over the Portsmouth West Lady Senators Monday night at Portsmouth West High School. Starting off with a 6-0 run, the Lady Titans never looked back, and led through the remainder of the game, until the final buzzer, earning a 56-37 victory over the Lady Senators.
“For three quarters, we played real good defense, and one quarter we didn’t,” Notre Dame Lady Titans coach JD McKenzie said. “We held them defensively to a quarter of three, a quarter of six, and another quarter of six.”
The one quarter McKenzie believes his defense did not perform as well in, was the second quarter. In that quarter, the Lady Senators scored 22 points, their best quarter of the night for offensive production.
The second quarter was huge for West, who was limited to only three first quarter points, and trailed by 11 points, early in the game.
The West scoring spree in the second quarter nearly brought the game even, but at the halftime buzzer, the Lady Titans remained ahead of the Lady Senators 27-25.
“We got in a lot of foul trouble, and they shot a ton of free throws in that quarter,” McKenzie said. “Other than that, defensively, I thought we did pretty good in the first half. We had a lot of opportunities to make some shots around the basket, but we didn’t.”
West took 11 foul shots in the second quarter, five of which were successful.
Mackenzie Newlan led the Lady Senators charge in the second quarter, scoring 11 points. She would end up only scoring in the second quarter.
Makayla White had a good second quarter as well for West, racking up five of her 10 total points.
Notre Dame refused to give up their lead, although there were several times West made a run, chipping away at the lead, but never erasing it.
“At that point, you have to get a stop,” McKenzie said when commenting on how his team managed to stifle the Lady Senators rallies. “If you get that stop, then you have to have a good offensive possession.”
McKenzie said one thing that hurt his squad during those attempted comebacks by West was missed shots.
“When we don’t make shots on one end, then we don’t get to dictate what we want to do defensively,” McKenzie said. “That was one thing we talked about, we were getting good looks at the basket, but we have to make those shots.”
By the end of the third quarter, the game was still up for grabs. Notre Dame’s lead, while technically had doubled, was still only four points, a simple two possession game.
The fourth quarter would ultimately determine the game’s victor, and unfortunately for West fans, the Lady Senators would not have a good fourth quarter.
West was limited to a single two point field goal in the fourth quarter. The remaining four points scored by the Lady Senators came by way of foul shots, where they hit four of their nine free throws.
On the other side, Notre Dame had their best quarter of the night, in regards to scoring. The Lady Titans scored 21 points in the fourth quarter, solidifying their lead, and victory over the West Lady Senators.
Notre Dame’s Hagen Schaefer had a fantastic fourth quarter. Schaefer scored 13 of her team leading 27 points in the fourth, and was perfect from the free throw line, sinking all three of her attempts.
West will hit the hardwood again Thursday night, as they host the Waverly Lady Tigers. That game has an estimated tipoff for 7:30 p.m.
The Lady Titans will host the Glenwood Lady Tigers Thursday evening, as they return to action. Tipoff is set for about 7:30 p.m. at Notre Dame High School.
Box Score
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| West | 3 | 22 | 6 | 6 | 37 |
| Notre Dame | 14 | 13 | 8 | 21 | 56 |
Individual Statistics
West – Newlan 4-1-11, White 3-4-10, Richards 2-0-6, Butcher 1-3-5, Compton 0-4-4, Williams 0-1-1
Notre Dame – Schaefer 12-3-27, L. Smith 6-0-12, A. Smith 2-0-6, Dettwiller 1-2-4, Kayser 2-0-4, Graf 1-0-2, Hoover 0-1-1
3-point field goals – West 4 (Richards 2, Newlan 2) Notre Dame 2 (A. Smith 2)
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