By Brady Extin | For The Times-Post
LAPEL — It might have been a Tuesday in December, but it had the feel of a February game.
A big, raucous crowd, and a hard-fought battle between two teams with the expectation of playing deep into February.
Last Tuesday, No. 4 Lapel fell at home to No. 2 Eastern Hancock 62-55.
The battle between the top five teams went as expected. The game saw 17 lead changes and came down to the final minutes of the fourth quarter.
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Fourteen of the lead changes came in the opening half, and the teams went bucket for bucket to open the game.
The lead changed 11 times in the opening quarter before a Kenzie Koch 3-pointer and a pair of Sammie Bolding free throws gave the Royals a 15-12 lead.
The Bulldogs answered with two Laniah Wills layups and eight straight points before Bolding ended the run early in the second.
A Koch basket and free throw put the Royals back ahead 22-20, but four straight Maddy Poynter free throws put the Bulldogs back on top, and a Rosemary Likens 3-pointer before the break sent Lapel into halftime ahead 27-26.
In the third Eastern Hancock showed the ability for one team to pull away from the other for the first time all game.
A Bolding trey, two Makenzie O’Neal free throws and a Koch layup put the Royals ahead 37-30.
Later in the quarter, Bolding’s third three of the game and another Koch basket gave the Royals an eight-point lead, their largest of the night.
But the defending state champs wouldn’t go down without a fight.
The Bulldogs reeled off a 10-1 run that began late in the third quarter and carried over into the fourth, capped off by a Wills layup and free throw to take a 46-45 lead with 6:44 remaining.
Wills started the run with a layup, Amyiah Nunn knocked down a jumper at the third-quarter buzzer, and Jocelyn Love buried a trey before Wills gave Lapel the lead.
Over the final six and a half minutes, though, the Royals outscored the Bulldogs 17-9.
Koch’s third three of the night put the Royals back ahead before Wills tied it back up with another layup, but the Bulldogs would never regain the lead.
A Ruby White backdoor cut and assist from Brooklyn Willis, and then a Willis 3-pointer helped keep the Bulldogs at bay before a deep Koch three put them away for good.
Wills led Lapel with 24 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, one block and one steal. Poynter added 11 points on 9-of-10 shooting from the free-throw line and dished out four assists.
Koch led Eastern Hancock with 23 points, Bolding added 19, and White finished with 10.
The Bulldogs bounced back with their 11th win of the season on Thursday defeating Monroe Central on the road 46-35.
Wills and Poynter led the way once again, each finishing with 19 points. Poynter knocked down a trio of 3-pointers, while Wills pulled down 16 rebounds for another double-double.
Defensively, the Bulldogs caused havoc, forcing 21 Monroe Central turnovers.
Six players recorded at least one steal for Lapel, led by Wills with five; Love added four, Nunn had three, AnnaLee Stow had two, and both Poynter and Taylor Mroz had one.
Lapel played Tuesday night (after press time) against Hamilton Heights and is off for the holidays until they kick off the Madison County tournament on Jan. 2 against Elwood.
