The highly anticipated rematch between the two Lawrence Township schools, Central and North, lived up to the expectation after a 57-55 Lawrence win on Dec. 7.
In that game, it was the Lampley sisters, Jaylah and Lola combining for 36 of Lawrence Central’s 57. While on the losing end it was a more balanced attack led by 17 points from senior Kamara Mills for Lawrence North.
Fast forward just over 30 days, and Lawrence Central still remained with just one loss heading into the rematch while Lawrence North would endure just one loss to Center Grove over the same span.
The top two teams in the state, who are just a six minute drive down Fall Creek Rd, played a high intensity game that had every feel of a state championship and rivalry game combined.
In the opening quarter, it was all sophomore Keadriah Butler for the Wildcats as she scored the first seven points of the game while giving electric effort on the defensive end.
On the other end, it was mainly the Lampley sisters carrying the load for the Bears. Just a year apart in age, the sisters have each molded themselves into elite division one recruits.
After the first eight minutes of play, it was a slim 14-12 lead for the visiting Wildcats squad.
As the game matured into the second quarter, both teams began to settle into their offense a bit more, rather than relying on the abundance of fast break points provided in the first quarter. From the start of the quarter, sophomore Aniyah McKenzie began to let her presence on the court be felt.
Despite the continued battle from both sides, a couple of Butler steals and a pair of fast break layups late in the half would give the Wildcats a slim 26-22 lead.
While waves of students flooded back into their designated sections, junior Laila Abdurraqib wasted no time drilling a three pointer from the wing for the Bears before both Lampley’s chipped in a lay up to secure a lead once again.
Butler continued her impressive outing in the third quarter, but it would feel like her efforts would slowly not be enough as the Bears just kept playing better team ball.
By the end of the third stanza, the Bears maintained a 41-34 lead with just about all the momentum in the game.
At the start of the final period, despite sophomore Naja Winston going down with an injury for the Wildcats, a couple of buckets by juniors Kya Hurt and Jamaya Thomas would cut the lead down to 41-40 with six minutes to play.
While the game continued to age into yet another all-time classic, Hurt and Thomas continued to make crucial buckets down the line to get out to a four point lead with three minutes left.
In a fast paced, but relatively inefficient game by both teams the scoring waited until crunch time to really get going.
Hurt, Thomas and Butler continued to be electric for the Wildcats, taking turns at the basket. While the elder Lampley, Jaylah, kept a steady set of scoring for the Bears to eventually claw back in front 52-51 with a minute to play.
After a very long 40 seconds of exchanging possession, the Bears were finally sent to the line with 15 seconds to extend the lead 54-51 in their favor.
After a jump ball kept possession with the Wildcats with just five seconds to play, a three point shot right after the inbound with clank off the rim, off the backboard and onto the ground before the Bears would be sent back to the charity stripe with .1 second remaining.
With the win in their hands, the home side of the gym began to erupt in support for the now 20 win Lawrence Central squad.
As both teams would be quickly ushered off the courts and into their locker rooms to either celebrate or mourn the game, it gives me time to reflect
For Lawrence North, sitting at 14-4 is a great record and the emergence of Keadriah Butler would give me even more hope in the season. At the end of the day, the simple fact is the Wildcats are two three pointers away from beating Lawrence Central twice, who now is the owner to half of their losses.
Expect the ‘Cats to continue dominating the rest of the MIC and their schedule and look for them to make a deep playoff run.
As for the Bears, what more is there to say? 20-1 and pretty handily the best team in the state. Do they have a handful of close wins, yes, but the key word here is wins and despite being a young roster they continue to pull out win after win.
Don’t be surprised if this Lawrence Central squad is playing downtown at Gainbridge in a couple months… and don’t be surprised if they do it again next year.