Leake Academy squads lose in opening round of tourney
In a rare event, neither Leake Academy basketball teams made it to the weekend of the state tournament.
Both teams lost in the opening round of the Class 5A state tournament as the Lady Rebels lost 59-56 to Parklane while the Rebels lost to Oak Forest 35-34.
The Leake girls finish the season with a 28-8 record while the Leake boys finish with a record of 26-12.
Parklane girls 59, Leake 56
The Rebelettes, playing without leading scorer and rebounder Katye Jones, trailed for the majority of the game and had a chance to send the game into overtime late but fell short in the first round of the Class 5A state tournament, ending their season.
Parklane led 18-17 at the end of the first and outscored Leake 15-13 in the second to lead 33-30 at the half. Parklane then outscored Leake 16-12 in the third to extend the lead to 49-42 going to the fourth. Leake then rallied and outscored Parklane 14-10 in the fourth but could never get the lead as the Lady Pioneers held on to take the win.
“One thing I have loved about coaching this particular team is the incredible effort they gave in practices and games all season long,” coach Amanda Hatch said. “Our game against Parklane was no exception. We were just unable to recover from being down our only returning starter, our leading scorer and rebounder, who was always a great presence on defense.”
Sophomore Jenna Allen led Leake with 25 points and eight rebounds while Anna Morgan Young had 14 points and three rebounds. Sarah Prince had eight points, three rebounds and three assists while Marleigh Myers had six points and five rebounds.
Oak Forest boys 35,
Leake 34
In a back and forth contest, the Yellowjackets took a tight one-point win to end the Rebels’ season on Wednesday.
Oak Forest led 6-4 at the end of the first period while Leake outscored the Yellowjackets 14-13 in the second to cut the lead to 19-18 at the half. Leake outscored Oak Forest 10-9 in the third to tie the game at 28-28 going to the fourth. Oak Forest took the fourth period 7-6 and held off the Rebels to take the one-point win.
“It was a fantastic second year with the guys,” Leake coach Jason Morgan said. "I had three goals at the beginning of the year: win 20 or more games again, have a chance to win our district again, and get back to the state tournament. We went 3-for-3 on those. And more than a few folks who beat us by 20 or 30 last year we either beat this year or lost to by only one or two possessions. We are improving as a program, and we bring back most of the roster next year.”
Samuel Prince led Leake with 18 points while Lucas Thomas had six points.