It’s hard to beat a team once. It’s tough to beat them twice but it’s darn near impossible to beat them three times. Well playas…the Lawrence North Wildcats went into Sectional 10 at Lawrence Central and beat the brakes, doors, transmission and the tires off of their township rival Lawrence Central 68-57.
Trust me, the final score was not indicative of the beat down LN put on them. The Bears simply showed some heart in the final minutes to make it look respectable because it was far from that for darn near three and a half quarters.
Led by Shamar Avance’s 25 points the Wildcats jumped out of the whip and went to work. Initially both teams were trading baskets and it looked to be a competitive game. At the first timeout LN was up 11-7 with Avance scoring 8 of their first 11 points
You knew early on that it was going to be the Shamar Avance Show because ole boy was clicking on all cylinders. By the time I could bite into my hot dog they were up 28-7 and LC couldn’t hit and elephant in the butt with a base fiddle. North came to came to play and Central was still in the ride trying to get their seat belts off.
LC’s Nijel Pack, the standout guard who’s on his way to Kansas State struggled to find his rhythm until late as he finished with 12 points. He didn’t score his first two points until the 3:17 mark of the second quarter on a pair of free throws.
The Bears were shook and it showed in their frustration getting up and down the floor. Their faces and body language said it all. Lawrence North went into the break up 32-12. They went on a 26-5 run to close out the half.
It was tough sledding for Lawrence Central but they finally found some confidence and started playing great defense as they closed the gap 43-28 with 2:37 left in the third.
They literally showed some life down the stretch of the third quarter to get to within 14 points to make it 49-35. Dre Davis was playing with more confidence and they started to get buckets. He finished with 16 points. However, it was too little too late. LN’s confidence was through the roof and they weren’t relinquishing the lead or township bragging rights.
Tony Perkins finished with 13 and Dorean Hatton dropped off 11 points on his way to Big Momma’s house. The Wildcats advance as the Bears hang up the sneakers for the season.
