LBI: Inside the Game Summary

2016 Districts Play

“Lathrup Proves To Be Too Much For Renaissance”

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Southfield Lathrup High School

Southfield Lathrup (18-3) had home court advantage in this playoff matchup against Detroit Renaissance (14-4).  Earlier both these teams watched the Southfield Blue Jays win on the same court and the winner of this game would play Southfield on Friday.

The 1st quarter started alright for the Detroit Renaissance Lady Phoenix as they drew first blood with a triple by Senior Guard Siyeh Frazier but the Lathrup Lady Chargers would answer right back.  They would put together a 9-2 run after back to back layups by Junior Guard Deja Church.  Lathrup would continue building their momentum as they headed into the 2nd with a layup by Senior Guard Antoinette Miller with only 5 seconds left.  After the 1st, the Lady Chargers led 14-9.

The 2nd would be much like the 1st as the offensive blitz from Lathrup would continue.  Miller and Church would both get triples midway through the quarter to help start an 11-0 run for the Lady Chargers.  “She does play better (in big games)” said Lathrup Head Coach Michele Marshall about Church. “Siyeh (Frazier) and her are really good friends and she takes the challenge.”  The Lady Phoenix would try to start the quarter off right in part thanks to a triple by Frazier but it would be 3 minutes until they would get another point.  They would try to comeback and would finish with a triple by Senior Guard Brittany Hill but at the half, Renaissance still trailed 34-20.

In the second half Lathrup would continue doing what they do best, rebounding and getting points anyway they could get them.  They would put Renaissance in foul trouble as the Lady Phoenix drew eight fouls in the 3rd quarter and Lathrup would make the most out of those free points.  Renaissance also struggled early in the 3rd to finish drives but they would improve as they would get a basket and a foul from Junior Guard Victoria Wright followed moments later by another triple from Frazier however they would continue to fall behind.  After 3, the Lady Chargers increased their lead to 50-32.

The Lady Chargers would cruise on from there thanks to a couple more layups from Church.  After that the crowd for both sides got a lot quieter as they felt this one was over.  Renaissance would get some nice fast break layups in the 4th, one from Frazier and two from Wright, but it would be too little, too late.  Lathrup wins 60-40, they will be back on their home court Friday night against Southfield who they last beat by 21 points.

Leading scorers of the night: Renaissance: Siyeh Frazier 13, Brittany Hill 8, Victoria Wright 6.  Lathrup: Deja Church 23, Antoinette Miller 15, Taiye Bello 12.

Game and Team Highlights

Renaissance:

• Siyeh Frazier showed just how good of an offensive weapon she is tonight.She had 3 triples throughout the game as well as a fastbreak and a layup in the 4th quarter.

• Victoria Wright got hot in the 2nd half.After being scoreless at halftime she would have three layups in the 2nd half including back to back layups late in the 4th.

Lathrup:

• Although Church lead the Lady Chargers in points, Antoinette Miller had quite the game herself.Two of her biggest highlights were a triple a few steps behind the line as well as a steal deep in the Renaissance zone that she took coast to coast for a layup.

• Lathrup did a great job keeping their momentum up in the first half as they would put together a 9-2 run in the 1st quarter and then an 11-0 run in the 2nd to give themselves control of the game at halftime.