Firebird girls take control down stretch, defeat New Jersey power

Lakota West High School’s annual trek to the Classic in the Country Challenge has become a victory march.

The Firebirds recorded their sixth straight Classic win over the last four seasons Sunday afternoon, fighting off St. Rose (N.J.) 48-43 in a fast-paced, physical girls basketball contest at Hiland’s Perry Reese Jr. Community Center.

“This is huge, just the fact that they came all the way down here just to play us and we beat them,” West junior Alexandra Haar said. “And it helps competition-wise. We don’t play that many good teams, so this is good for us. We like these kind of games.”

Abby Prohaska and Nevaeh Dean scored 12 points apiece and Jasmine Ballew tallied 11 for the Firebirds (13-1), who finished the game with a seven-point run in the last 2:12.

“We didn’t let up, and I think that was the key and what gets most teams when we play them,” said Prohaska, a junior guard/forward and University of Notre Dame commit. “We pulled together as a team and really focused on the positives and tried to let the negatives roll off our backs.”

The winning surge gave West a shot of adrenaline heading into its Classic finale against Solon on Monday at 3 p.m.

“Ultimately, it’s a game of getting hit in the mouth and getting back up and punching back,” Firebirds coach Andy Fishman said. “What I love about our girls is the way they were persistent. Not only their effort, but their attitudes.

“No matter what went wrong or what we missed doing, we bounced back immediately. The girls passed my eye test tonight. We battled and battled and battled with no head hanging and everybody cheering each other on.

“It’s about the next play, the next play, the next play. They have great players who made great plays. And if our girls are doing everything right defensively when those players are making great plays, so be it. Let’s move on. Let’s just go ahead and keep playing. That’s what we did.”

Dean’s point total was a career high. The 6-foot-1 freshman scored eight in the fourth period.

“I think it was really fun. It was energetic. It was upbeat,” Dean said. “I thought the difference was our hard work and effort and ability to run up and down the court. Even when there were hard times, we kept pushing through.”

St. Rose (9-2), a perennial New Jersey power, committed three turnovers in the last 30.3 seconds. The Purple Roses took a 43-41 lead on Mikayla Markham’s basket with 2:33 remaining.

Markham and Luciana Thomas both put up 13 points for St. Rose, which had 20 turnovers and shot 39.5 percent from the floor. Markham, the point guard, added six assists, and the 5-11 Thomas grabbed 12 boards.

“We prepared for their pressure and expected that,” Markham said. “I think we got a little sped up towards the end of the game, and that led to those turnovers.”

Purple Roses coach Joe Whalen graded his team’s performance as “a B or a B-plus.”

“That’s a good team, and I thought we had our chances. I’m OK with that,” he said. “They’re a difficult team to prepare for because you worry so much about their pressure that you don’t have time to worry about their sets and their offense.”

Prohaska had six assists, five rebounds and three steals for West. Ballew hauled in nine boards, and Bryana Henderson chipped in six points and five assists despite hip and ankle problems.

“We had more energy going after every loose ball and everything that was set in front of us,” said LWHS junior Sarah Jones, who marked four points and four rebounds. “This is really big. I’m feeling very confident in our team.”

The 5-5 Haar may have been the biggest Firebird down the stretch. Her free throw with 1:53 left pushed West ahead for good at 44-43. About a minute later, she made a great hustle play while getting an offensive rebound, throwing the ball off St. Rose’s Jen Louro as she was falling out of bounds.

And with 44.3 seconds remaining, Haar scored in the lane to make it 46-43.

“I saw the opening, and as soon as I took it in, I knew I was going to make it,” she said. “The atmosphere and my teammates … it was great. My role is to come off the bench and step up big time whenever I’m needed.”

Haar played under 11 minutes and finished with three points.

“Ally made huge plays for us on both ends of the floor,” Fishman said. “We tell our girls all the time to be ready and perhaps your chance will come.

“This was a great team win. It’s not just that we played 10 girls. It’s that everybody did things in little moments that contributed to the win. How many teams are realistically competing for a state championship where a coach is putting in one of 10 girls at key times and expecting them to make plays? That’s what I’m proud about with our girls, that we have that kind of complete buy-in.”

The Purple Roses seemed a bit weary in the final minutes. Three players never came out of the game, and they essentially went six deep.

So Fishman wasn’t necessarily surprised that the Firebirds’ pressure paid off at crunch time.

“That says a lot about how our girls were able to lock in and dig in and have great defensive intensity,” he said. “We were just out there hammering away. Let’s go ahead and grab our shovel and pail and go to it.”

St. Rose was 5 of 19 from 3-point range, but made only one trey in the second half. The Firebirds converted 3 of 10 treys, two by Prohaska, and shot 40 percent from the field.

Dean had reached double figures just once before Sunday’s game.

“I feel I did well, but I wouldn’t be able to do most of this stuff without my teammates,” she said. “I still feel as if I’m learning a lot.”

Asked if she still feels like a freshman, Dean replied, “There’s still moments when you know other players are more experienced in certain situations than you are. Other than that, it’s pretty much worn off. As a freshman, I set some goals this year just to break out of my shell and just go play. Don’t overthink anything and just play.”

The Purple Roses drove eight hours to come to Berlin for just one game. Despite the loss, Whalen said the experience was worth it.

“We talked about if we were sled dogs, this is our Iditarod,” Whalen said. “We really looked forward to this. We went to church today, and people at church were talking about how they drive eight hours just to come here and watch games. It more than exceeded our expectations.”

Fishman described this trip as a program-level event for West. The Firebirds have two junior varsity teams and an eighth-grade squad in Berlin getting an opportunity to play.

“It’s more work for our staff, but it’s lifetime memories for these girls,” Fishman said.

St. Rose 11-14-11-7—43

Lakota West 13-11-11-13—48

ST. ROSE (9-2): Mikayla Markham 5 0 13, Elizabeth Marsicano 2 1 6, Alexandra Pendergrass 3 0 6, Ellyn Stoll 1 2 4, Jen Louro 0 1 1, Luciana Thomas 6 0 13. Totals: 17-4-43

LAKOTA WEST (13-1): Bryana Henderson 3 0 6, Sarah Jones 2 0 4, Alexandra Haar 1 1 3, Jasmine Ballew 4 2 11, Nevaeh Dean 6 0 12, Abby Prohaska 4 2 12. Totals: 20-5-48

3-pointers: S 5 (Markham 3, Marsicano, Thomas), L 3 (Prohaska 2, Ballew)

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