Lakers fall to Lakota, forced to regroup

DANBURY TWP. — Danbury's league title dreams took a major hit these last two Thursdays. Now, the Lakers have no choice but to regroup, focus inward and embrace the age-old cliché of one game at a time. "We can't win eight games in one night," Danbury coach Joe Miller said. "We've just got to go and win the first one… We have great kids. They work hard. It's just the little things." A week after falling to SBC River-leading Gibsonburg on the road, the Lakers were edged at home Thursday night by Lakota, 41-36. The Raiders (11-3, 8-3) have now won 11 games in a row, while Danbury (12-2, 9-2) fell for the second time in three outings. "Just not enough," Miller said. "We did it well when we did it, but just not enough. Just disappointed." Things started well enough. Maci Brown nabbed a steal and scored to open the evening. From there, Danbury relied on its superior size to get most of its first-half buckets. Senior forward Kelly Uhinck, at 5-foot-10, scored 11 points before the break. Junior Mia McDonald, herself 5-9, added four points and assisted on a pair of Uhinck's baskets. "Really talked about wanting to get the ball inside with them," Miller said. "They've been practicing well." McDonald and Uhinck each had and-1s to start the second quarter, then Uhinck scored two more field goals inside to go up 19-18. Lakota scored the final six points of the first half to take a 27-21 lead to the break. Emma Gregg hit a 3-pointer, then Riley King nailed a triple just before the horn. King beat both the first- and second-quarter buzzers with 3-pointers. "We just all had to keep our cool," King said. "We knew it was in a time crunch, so if we're open we take a good shot." Cassidy Foos scored the first four points of the second half to put Lakota up 10. She and backcourt mates Gregg and Aubrey Vitte combined for 31 of Lakota's 41. Danbury responded with a 7-0 run to pull within three — a Brown swish, Michaela Harris steal and score and Maria Maringer 3-pointer. Vitte answered with a 3 of her own after great ball movement. Gregg added a floater, and Lakota went to the fourth up 36-30. A runner by Vitte made the margin eight to start the fourth, and around buckets by Mia McDonald and Maringer, Lakota went into ball-control mode. The Raiders' first stall took exactly a minute off the clock. The second burned two minutes and 11 seconds. "Those three guards did a nice job," Miller said. "Give them credit for the execution late." Danbury brought extended trapping pressure to try and get the ball back, but Lakota's guards kept control. "Every day, these kids show up and work," Lakota coach Erin Foos said. "They battle in practice… We have quite the chemistry. They just keep working, and as a coach I can't ask for more than that." A McDonald post hoop with 1:47 left made the margin three, but Danbury wouldn't score again and two split trips to the line for Lakota were enough to ice it. "We had good moments," Miller said. "We just didn't sustain them for long enough periods of time. Unfortunately for us, that's the difference tonight." This one stung a bit differently for Danbury than the loss last week at Gibsonburg. Back at home, and coming off a Saturday win at Hopewell-Loudon, this was a chance for the Lakers to get their groove back. Instead, they ran into a streaking Lakota team and added some more adversity to their season journey. "The season's not over," Miller said. "There are a lot of teams that would like to be 12-2. We still have a lot to play for. Our kids are gonna grow from this experience and be ready next Tuesday for New Riegel on the road." LAKOTA Aubrey Vitte 5 0-0 11; Emma Gregg 5 0-0 12; Cassidy Foos 2 4-8 8; Riley King 3 1-2 9; Lexi Moon 0 1-2 1. TOTALS 15 6-12 41 DANBURY Maci Brown 2 0-0 4; Kelly Uhinck 4 3-7 11; Mia McDonald 5 0-1 10; Maria Maringer 3 0-0 7; Michaela Harris 1 2-2 4. TOTALS 15 5-10 36 Lakota 16 11 9 5 — 41Danbury 11 10 9 6 — 36 Three-point goals — Lakota 5 (Gregg 2, King 2, Vitte 1); Danbury 1 (Maringer 1)