Lady Coyotes top Leyton to win conference tourney title

Potter-Dix went up against rival Leyton for the third time this season in Saturday's Minuteman Activities Conference tournament championship game. And for the third time, the Lady Coyotes came out on top.

The Lady Coyotes (12-2) brought home their first MAC tournament title in girls basketball since 2006 with a 40-32 victory against the Lady Warriors.

Potter-Dix coach Jeff Einspahr said the win says a lot about his team in winning against their rival for the third time in three tries this season.

"We were really worried about having to play them the third time," he said. "The girls came out and they stuck to our game plan. We really wanted to play solid (defense), to not turn the ball over and not foul. We accomplished that tonight, because they were never in the bonus in either half, and we won. We did what we needed to do. I'm really proud of the girls and the way came out and did the game plan."

The game was a defensive struggle throughout the first quarter as both teams struggled from the field. Savannah Shaw got the Lady Coyotes on the scoreboard with a layup after picking off a Lady Warrior pass and taking it the other way for the score. Diedra Waite hit one of two foul shots and later added a layup to put Leyton up 3-2, before an Anna McLaughlin free throw tied the game at 3-all with 3:24 left in the first quarter. Potter-Dix trailed 5-3 before ending the quarter on a 4-0 spurt, all from the foul line. McLaughlin hit three free throws and Cortney Lewis added one for a 7-5 lead.

Audrey Juelfs started the second quarter scoring with a trey from near the corner, and the Lady Coyotes were off and running. McLaughlin added a jumper in a lane with 5:02 left until halftime for a 12-6 lead. Potter-Dix ended the quarter on a 7-0 run to take a commanding lead at the break. Brooke Glass started the run with a jumper just outside the paint, and Dawson Sharman's jumper made it a 16-8 lead. Alexus Rozelle got the steal and went the other way for a fast break jumper with 1:25 left in the quarter, and McLaughlin's foul shot with 58 seconds left until halftime put Potter-Dix up 19-8. The Lady Coyotes outscored the Lady Warriors 12-3 in the second quarter.

Defense was the name of the game for Potter-Dix. The Lady Coyotes gave up just four field goals in the first half of Saturday's game. They also held Leyton's 6-foot post Diedra Waite to just five points in the half. She scored all five of the Lady Warriors' first quarter points, but the Lady Coyotes held her scoreless in the second quarter.

"We have been pretty good on defense this year, and tonight we really locked it down," Einspahr said. "We knew who we wanted to stop, their big girl, (Diedra) Waite inside, and then they have a couple shooters. We were making sure we were watching where they were at. We were able to do that. Diedra got in foul trouble early and was out of the game for a while, so that really helped our game plan."

The Lady Coyotes took a 23-8 lead just over a minute into the third quarter on layups from Rozelle and McLaughlin. Leyton kept itself in the game in the third quarter by outscoring Potter-Dix 9-8, although the Lady Coyotes kept in front with a double-digit lead, 27-17, heading into the final eight minutes of the game.

Potter-Dix held a comfortable lead through most of the final quarter. A McLaughlin free throw and a Sharman layup gave the Lady Coyotes a 30-17 lead less than a minute into the fourth quarter, and they held a double digit advantage until Waite's layup with 1:44 to go made it a 34-26 game. McLaughlin hit a couple foul shots and a layup to extend the Potter-Dix lead to 40-26 with 29 seconds left.

Einspahr said the tournament atmosphere and the momentum from winning it could help the Lady Coyotes in the long run.

"It's tremendous because it's a mental thing," he said. "We're young. We came out and we were able to win a MAC championship for Potter-Dix, the first since I think 2006. So it's been a while in basketball. I'm really proud of them. I hope we can use this momentum to continue through the rest of the season and into subdistricts."

Score by quarter

Leyton 5 3 9 15 - 32

Potter-Dix 7 12 8 13 - 40

Points

Anna McLaughlin 16, Dawson Sharman 7, Audrey Juelfs 5, Brooke Glass 4, Alexus Rozelle 4, Savannah Shaw 2, Cortney Lewis 1, Payge Hoffman 1.

Rebounds

Anna McLaughlin 11, Savannah Shaw 4, Alexus Rozelle 4, Audrey Juelfs 4, Brooke Glass 1, Dawson Sharman 1, Cortney Lewis 1, Payge Hoffman 1.

Assists

Audrey Juelfs 4, Dawson Sharman 2, Anna McLaughlin 1.

Steals

Alexus Rozelle 5, Savannah Shaw 3, Audrey Juelfs 3, Dawson Sharman 3, Anna McLaughlin 3, Cortney Lewis 1.

Potter-Dix 39, Bayard 36

Potter-Dix jumped out to an 11-1 first quarter lead and held on to defeat Bayard, 39-36, last Thursday in a MAC tournament semifinal game.

The Lady Coyotes led 11-1 after the first quarter and held a 20-15 halftime lead. They led 31-23 heading into the fourth quarter.

Dawson Sharman led the team offensively with 11 points, while Savannah Shaw added seven points. Alexus Rozelle scored six points and pulled down 10 rebounds, while Audrey Juelfs added five points, five assists and 10 rebounds.

Score by quarter

Bayard 1 14 8 13 - 36

Potter-Dix 11 9 11 8 - 39

Points

Dawson Sharman 11, Savannah Shaw 7, Alexus Rozelle 6, Anna McLaughlin 5, Audrey Juelfs 5, Trinity Langley 5.

Rebounds

Audrey Juelfs 10, Alexus Rozelle 10, Anna McLaughlin 9, Trinity Langley 4, Savannah Shaw 4, Dawson Sharman 3, Cortney Lewis 3, Brooke Glass 1.

Assists

Audrey Juelfs 5, Alexus Rozelle 1, Anna McLaughlin 1, Dawson Sharman 1, Cortney Lewis 1.

Steals

Anna McLaughlin 5, Savannah Shaw 3, Alexus Rozelle 1, Dawson Sharman 1, Trinity Langley 1, Audrey Juelfs 1.

Blocks

Anna McLaughlin 3, Alexus Rozelle 2, Dawson Sharman 1, Audrey Juelfs 1, Savannah Shaw 1, Trinity Langley 1.