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The Bryan girls basketball team traded 20-point quarters in the second half with Spring Westfield, but the Lady Vikings couldn't pull out a victory in head coach Elizabeth Jesurun's home debut as Westfield held on for a 69-66 victory on Tuesday at Viking Gym.
"It was a barn-burner tonight," Jesurun said, after watching her Lady Vikings score 23 points in the third quarter only to give up 28 to Westfield in the fourth.
LeKendra "Cat" Clemons scored 10 points in Bryan's third-quarter run, mostly off the fast break. She finished with a team-high 17 along with Micah Marshall.
In the fourth quarter, however, turnovers and fouls hampered Bryan, leading Westfield to score 28 points and go on a 7-2 run with less than a minute left to take its first lead since midway through the third quarter.
"We're young, and the players who are older are inexperienced," Jesurun said. "They can execute what they're taught, but they're not used to making plays when the pressure is on. I'm proud of the way we put ourselves in position to win the game, but we didn't finish. Next time, hopefully we will."
The Lady Vikings showed signs of dominance in the second half. After struggling through a poor-shooting first half, Bryan only missed 6 of 25 attempts in the second half. Bryan also made 7 of 9 free throws in the second half after missing 7 of 14 in the first.
Unfortunately, one miss came with the game on the line. With 27 seconds left and Westfield up 65-63, Marshall missed just her second free throw of the game before sinking the second, but by then, the damage was already done.
After trading free throws, the Lady Vikings were down by one with 14 seconds left. Amanda Lawson stole the inbounds pass as she was falling out of bounds but threw it right to one of the Westfield defenders, who was promptly fouled.
After Westfield hit both free throws, Bryan had one last chance at a game-tying 3-pointer, but a 5-second violation gave Westfield the ball. The Lady Mustangs inbounded the ball and ran out the clock.
Despite the loss, Jesurun has hopes Bryan will come together over the course of nondistrict play.
"Our goal is to win as much as we can," Jesurun said. "We need to be battle-tested for district, so we can hopefully grab a playoff spot. If you look at the [Houston] Rockets, or at Mark Turgeon's [Texas A&M men's] team, it takes a while to pick up this offense. After Christmas break, I expect us to be able to run it much better."
Marshall had four rebounds and two assists, while Clemons had two rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal.
Amanda Lawson led Bryan with five rebounds and five steals, also chipping in two points and an assist. Teammate Carlisha Wyatt also had five rebounds with four points and one block.
Bryan hosts Lake Travis at 11:30 a.m. Saturday.
Spring Westfield 69, Bryan 66
(Numbers after names are field goals made, free throws made-attempted, points)
BRYAN (1-1) -- Sierra Flowers 2 0-0 4; Gia Ayers 1 1-2 3; Micah Marshall 4 9-11 17; Jessica Johnson 3 0-0 6; Amanda Lawson 2 0-0 4; LeKendra Clemons 6 5-7 17; Ashley Maxwell 3 0-0 6; Romika Bircher 0 0-0 0; Carlette Wyatt 0 2-2 2; Elizabeth Marrero 0 1-2 1; Carlisha Wyatt 2 0-0 4; Katherina Douglas 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 27 14-23 66.
3 pters: None
WESTFIELD -- Sheneria Taylor 1 0-0 2; Gevenia Carter 6 15-16 29; Takeisha Johnson 3 0-0 13; Lakaisha Jones 1 0-0 2; Brittany Kirksey 0 0-0 0; Laquisha Johnson 0 0-0 0; Shaleatha Carrier 2 0-0 4; Kwansha Smith 0 0-0 0; Ebony Atkins 1 1-2 3; Simone Hopes 7 2-3 16. TOTALS 25 17-22 69.
3 pters: Carter (2)
Team Totals: Rebounds -- Westfield 20, Bryan 33. Assists -- Westfield 3, Bryan 8. Fouls -- Westfield 16, Bryan 19.
Westfield 18 12 11 28 -- 69
Bryan 14 13 23 16 -- 66
