L-P girls basketball loses to Geneseo on late 3-pointer

LA SALLE – The La Salle-Peru girls basketball team struggled out of the gate Tuesday and faced a nine-point deficit early in the third quarter.

Despite the rough start, the Cavaliers put themselves in position to win.

However, L-P did not score for a more than five-minute stretch in the fourth quarter, and Geneseo’s Kendall Ellerbrock drained a 3-pointer with 3.4 seconds left to lift the Maple Leafs to a 44-41 victory in a nonconference game.

“I take full responsibility for the loss because we didn’t play with any energy to start the game,” L-P coach Adam Spencer said.

The Cavs took a 39-38 lead on a post bucket by Brie Ruppert on an assist from Elli Sines with 5:33 left but didn’t score again until the final minute.

Geneseo did not make a field goal in the fourth quarter aside from Ellerbrock’s 3, but the Maple Leafs got three free throws from Bella Brown, including a pair with 53.5 seconds left for a 41-39 lead.

L-P turned the ball over on a bad pass but managed to get it back by pressing and tangling up the Maple Leafs for a jump ball.

The Cavs got the ball in to Ruppert, who was double-teamed and found Sines on a back cut for the tying basket with 28.6 seconds left.

“We swung it around and had Elli on a backside cut,” Spencer said.

Geneseo called a timeout with 20.4 seconds left to set up its winning play.

“Give [Ellerbrock] credit for hitting an incredible shot,” Spencer said.

Although the Cavs handled Geneseo’s defense to tie the game late, L-P struggled early as the Maple Leafs pressed and changed looks.

L-P turned the ball over on its first five possessions, fell behind 5-0 and trailed 16-10 after the first quarter.

“That was probably the worst four minutes to start a game this season,” Spencer said.

The Cavs closed within a point early in then second quarter on back-to-back 3s by Emma Jereb and Ashley Kawiecki, but Geneseo pushed its lead to 28-22 by halftime.

The Maple Leafs went up 31-22 on a 3 by Addison Snodgrass with 6:54 left in the third, but the Cavs forced a couple of turnovers that led to points and pushed the ball upcourt in transition to go on a 13-0 run.

A three-point play by Alexus Hines gave the Cavs their first lead of the night at 33-31 with 3:44 left in the third, and Sines scored a layup off a long outlet pass to cap the run for a 35-31 advantage with 2:46 left in the third.

Sines made a steal and found Ruppert for a fast-break bucket with 10.6 seconds left in the third to give L-P a 37-36 lead going to the fourth.

“I don’t think we had a lot of trouble breaking the press when we stayed calm,” Spencer said.

Ruppert scored nearly half of her team’s points as she finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds for L-P (10-15), while Jereb and Hines added five points each.

Brown led the Maple Leafs (8-18) with 19 points, while Ellerbrock contributed 12.