CAK girls get LCA monkey off their backs
KNOXVILLE — When Christian Academy of Knoxville’s girls’ basketball team led Lakeway Christian Academy 29-16 early in the second period at home Friday night, Dec. 10, the lead seemed comfortable.
A 19-2 burst created the lead.
For most of the second quarter and all of the third, however, CAK would score but 12 points and trail 42-41 at the end of three. It was anybody’s game.
The Lady Warriors promptly opened the fourth by scoring the first seven points, and never trailed again as they held on to win 59-53 and improve to 5-5 overall, 2-0 in District 1 East Region, Division II Class A.
CAK head coach Abby Williams said her first career win versus Lakeway was especially sweet.
“It’s been a long time coming,” she said. “They’ve been a powerhouse. They have a lot of talent. We had to get over the hump of trying to find a way to beat Lakeway.
“We’re a team of runs,” Williams added. “We struggled a little bit there. We kept our composure and we came out in the fourth quarter and said ‘we got this.’ One possession at a time.”
“I knew we had a good chance coming in,” said Emily Wilson, Lady Warriors’ junior point guard who led all scorers with 16. “The coaches have been preparing us really well for this game.”
When the Lions’ Audrey Laney hit a three with 12 seconds left in the third, it gave the Lions a one-point lead, 42-41, heading into the fourth.
“I have faith in my teammates and I trust what we can do,” Wilson said when asked about losing the lead. “We executed well. This is a really big win for us.”
A three by Wilson and lay-ups by Madi Jones and Izzy Proffitt to start the fourth gave CAK a 48-42 lead. Down 52-45, the Lions scored six straight to cut it to one with 1:27 left.
But the Lady Warriors closed it out on a 7-2 run.
Jones scored 12 for the game. Junior guard Keira Leffew added nine.
Madi Hawk led LCA with 15 points. Laney scored 14.
