Lima Senior’s Talor Washington puts up a 3-point shot during Thursday night’s game against Whitmer at Lima Senior.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
LIMA — Following their win against then No. 3-ranked Divison III Ottawa-Glandorf last Saturday, the big question was how would the Lima Senior girls basketball team play Thursday evening against the number three (in the standings) Three Rivers Athletic Conference team in visiting Toledo Whitmer.
The Spartans answered in a very positive way and rode a strong defensive effort to a 63-54 win at Lima Senior.
Toledo (12-5, 7-4 TRAC) opened the game with a 24 first point quarter before the Spartans settled in and held them to 30 points over the final three periods of play.
“We made them work really hard after that first quarter,” Lima coach Vince Halliday said. “I told the kids they had to play better defense and they sat down and took away their shooters.”
Jenna Thomas scored eight first quarter points for the Panthers and finished the game with a total of 12.
Maddie Brown also totaled eight in the first quarter and she finished the night with 11 points. Brown’s first 3-pointer of the evening (midway through the first quarter) gave her 1,000 points in her career.
The Spartans (9-10, 4-6 TRAC) began to rely on their quickness on both offense and defense and were able to take a 36-33 lead to the half after trailing 24-17 after one quarter of play.
The two teams battled to a 10-8 advantage for Whitmer in the third period and the teams went to the final period of play with the Spartans holding a 44-43 edge.
The Panthers scored the first basket of the fourth quarter to regain the lead at 45-44 before the Spartans went on a 10-0 run over the next four minutes while holding Toledo scoreless. The result of that run was a 54-45 Lima lead with two and a half minutes left in the game.
Lima was able to convert 11-of-15 free throws as the Panthers were forced to foul and the Spartans held on for the impressive victory.
Lima was led in scoring by their guards with junior Destiny McDonald scoring a game-high 21 points to go along with six steals. Freshman Nakiya Sigman finished the game with 16 points.
Sophomore Ajohlon Bullock provided a spark off the bench as she finished the night with 8 points, 6 rebounds, and two steals plus providing a ton of energy according to Halliday.
“It only took 18 games but maybe we finally figured it out,” Halliday said. “We rallied when we were down, we were able to take away their strength, and I’m really proud of our effort. We are trying to build to our best basketball of the season at the end.”
Both teams committed 18 turnovers in the game and the Spartans won the rebound battle against the taller Panthers by a 31-26 margin.
The Lima News sports department can be reached at 567-242-0451.
