THE REPORTER
The University girls overcame a sluggish start Friday night to pick up a 60-54 road win over West Lafayette Harrison.
Senior Payton Seay had an outstanding game, scoring a game-high 28 points that included a perfect 13 of 13 at the foul line. The 5-5 senior pulled down nine rebounds and had five steals.
University struggled against Harrison’s size in the first quarter. The Raiders, who lead the North Central Conference with a 5-0 record, start three players 5-11 or taller. Harrison built a 17-11 advantage after the first quarter with 6-1 Campbell Moore and 6-0 Riley Whitlock each tallying six points in the quarter.
The Trailblazers held Harrison scoreless for the first six minutes of the second quarter, scoring 12 unanswered points to take a 23-17 lead. Taylor Seay had a pair of traditional three-point plays in the quarter, including one with 5:05 left to give University their first lead at 19-17. It was a lead University would not relinquish. After Harrison scored its first points of the second quarter on an offensive rebound with 1:58 left, Payton Seay made a pair of foul shots and Jordan Patterson scored for a 27-19 lead. Harrison added the last four points of the half and University took a 27-23 halftime lead.
University started hot in the third quarter with Payton Seay making a three pointer and Kelsey DuBois scoring off a pass from Patterson. Harrison got as close as two points late in the period before a DuBois rebound basket at the third quarter horn gave University a 39-34 lead.
Patterson scored University’s first four points on the fourth quarter on a reverse layup and a floater in the lane before stealing the ball and passing ahead to Payton Seay for a layin that gave University its largest lead of the game at 45-36.
Harrison got as close as four points on a few occasions before Taylor Seay’s third traditional three-point play of the night gave University a 53-45 lead with 1:35 left. Harrison again cut the lead to four, but Payton Seay and Patterson made free throws down the stretch to clinch the win for the 11-4 Trailblazers.
Taylor Seay finished with 11 points. DuBois had a team-high 10 rebounds to go with nine points and four assists. Patterson had 10 points and a team-high five assists. Kamryn Washington handed three assists as University had 15 assists on 19 made baskets.
Harrison was led by Whitlock with 23 points and Riley Flinn with 12. The Raiders are 9-6 on the season.
University is back in action Saturday for its fourth game in eight days. The Blazers will host Covenant Christian as part of a girls/boys doubleheader. Junior varsity action starts at 3 p.m. with the varsity girls contest scheduled for a 5:30 tip-off.
UNIVERSITY 60, HARRISON 54
University FG FT TP PF
Kelsey DuBois 4-9 0-2 9 4
Kamryn Washington 1-4 0-0 2 1
Payton Seay 7-14 13-13 28 3
Taylor Seay 4-5 3-3 11 4
Jordan Patterson 3-8 4-7 10 2
Keira Bright 0-4 0-1 0 2
Hannah Grubbs 0-0 0-0 0 0
Alex Feeney 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 19-44 20-24 60 16
Score by Quarters
University 11 16 12 21 – 60
Harrison 17 6 11 20 – 54
University 3-point shooting (2-8) DuBois 1-2, P. Seay 1-2, Patterson 0-2, Bright 0-1, Washington 0-1.
University rebounds (28) DuBois 10, P. Seay 9, T. Seay 3, Patterson 3, Washington 2, Feeney 1.