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Comets just hold off Lady Larks
By Joe Warren
Herald-Tribune
HESSTON, Kan. -- Hesston College's Tana Nelson missed a 10-footer with six seconds left and Cottey's Lacy Leonard grabbed the rebound as the Comets escaped with a 55-52 road win over the Larks Friday.
Cottey sophomore Kerri Shanks hit one of two free throws to break a 52-52 tie with 21.6 seconds to play and Hesston brought the ball to the front court and called a timeout. Cottey's defense stiffened on the ensuing possession and the one player on the court they wanted taking the final shot, Nelson, was forced to try a pull-up jumper from the left elbow. The shot rolled off the left side of the rim and Leonard was there waiting for her 10th rebound of the game. The sophomore from Nevada was fouled with 1.3 seconds remaining and she hit both charity tosses to provide the final margin.
"The one thing that we did was we found a way to win," Cottey head coach Dave Ketterman said after watching his team commit 29 turnovers in their first road game of the season. "We talked about making just enough stops, just enough shots, to get the job done."
Nelson was the only Hesston (3-4) player on the court during the final possession who had not made a field goal in the game, and her miss kept the Comets' (5-0) undefeated season alive.
While still undefeated, the Comets were far from perfect as Ketterman watched his team struggle all night with the Hesston full-court trap. The Comets got worse against it as the game progressed, turning the ball over 18 times in the second half alone.
Each time Cottey threatened to open up some breathing room, Hesston would crawl back into it with the aid of Comet miscues.
"The thing that bugs me the most, is that we couldn't ever get organized against the full-court press," Ketterman said.
Leonard had her first double-double of the season, scoring 13 points to go with her 10 boards. Leonard had all but one of her points after halftime.
She led three players in double figures offensively, as Kayla Orear scored 12 and Elin Lindberg had 11.
Shanks also had a big second half, scoring eight of her nine points after intermission. Shanks also led the Comets with five assists.
One bright side for Cottey was their defense, which held Hesston to 29 percent shooting in the game and forced 24 turnovers. Cottey had 14 steals -- Lindberg leading the way with five.
The first half was also sloppy on both sides as Cottey committed 11 turnovers and the Larks had 14.
Orear and Lindberg provided enough offensive firepower though as each scored eight points and the Comets went into the locker room with a 26-22 lead.
Cottey led by as many as seven in the first half, building a 9-2 lead and maintaining that margin until it was 16-9 with 10:00 to play in the half. But Hesston went to the full-court press and the Comets started turning the ball over, going more than four minutes without a score until a jumper by Sara Sellin made it 18-17 with 5:38 before halftime.
Notes: Leonard played despite a stretched LCL on her left knee, an injury that occurred during Cottey's previous game Tuesday. … Sellin also played on a sprained right ankle, another injury that happened against Baptist Bible College Tuesday. But Sellin didn't start, as Ashleigh Houdyshell gained her first start of the season. … Also on the injury front, Cottey freshman Melissa Hedges will undergo surgery to repair a torn meniscus in her knee Wednesday. Estimated recovery time for Hedges is 4-8 weeks. … Ketterman showed the most emotion he has all season in the second half when he called a timeout during a Cottey offensive possession. Ketterman yelled for a timeout, threw his pen into the floor under his seat and yelled at the Comet players. The team responded by coming out and executing a perfect set play to Sellin in the paint, and the freshman made the layup to give the Comets a 48-46 lead.