Lanier's latest record powers PC past Perkins

PORT CLINTON — Greatness on the basketball court comes in many forms. At Port Clinton, the school district's most prolific scorer ever measures up as a 5-foot-2 dynamo with the heart of someone 6-foot-8. Da'Cariya 'DC' Lanier, in a season full of records, locked up that latest historic title on Tuesday night. "It's amazing," PC coach Kevin Belden said. "I'm just lucky to have a front row seat to it every day." Even better for Port Clinton, this mark came in a win. PC bounced back from a rough Friday defeat to hold off Perkins, 49-39, in a battle of two 10-win teams from the same postseason district. In the first quarter, Lanier hop-stepped through two defenders and banked in a shot. It pushed her career point total past the boys' program's leading scorer, Adam Thorbahn (1,502), meaning no one in a Port Clinton varsity basketball uniform has ever scored more points. Lanier now sits at 1,519 points, and Thorbahn sent his congratulations afterward on social media. "It's special because I'm a girl and I'm the leading scorer out of both," Lanier said. "That's the most important thing to me. I like showing other people that girls can do anything, too." Lanier's record-setting make was part of a blistering start for Port Clinton (11-6), which had lost to Perkins three times across the past two seasons. On this night, Lanier swished a stepback 3, dished to Maddy Cornell for a layup, then set her record as part of a 7-0 lead. "I practice a lot on my finishing because I'm so small," Lanier said. "The finishing moves are what I work on the most." Lanier added a three-point play, then assisted twice to Olivia Spencer for five more points and a 15-4 advantage after one. "It's so much fun," Spencer said. "I love celebrating with (Lanier). She puts so much hard work into doing what she does. I like seeing her be able to hit these milestones for our whole school." Perkins made a game of it with a nearly as dominant second quarter. Kendall Zeiher drilled three 3-pointers, Camryn VanVlerah added five points and the Pirates (10-8) pulled within 24-22 at the intermission. Spencer helped PC stay ahead with a friendly home bounce up and back down through on a 3-pointer that gave her nine points in a fast start of her own. "This one was the start of getting back into the winning column, getting back into tournament game seeding," Spencer said. "This was a big game that we needed. Especially being at home, we had a big advantage from being here." Port Clinton held the lead from the opening bucket, and Perkins could never quite get it back to all square. Lanier scored her final seven points of the night in the third quarter. That included another traditional three-point play, a finish in transition and a pair of foul shots. Lanier scored the last four points of the quarter to go up 37-28 after three. Port Clinton's other four starters closed the game out with the remaining 12 points. Cornell drilled a 3-pointer for a 41-35 lead. "Maddy has struggled a bit with her shot lately, but I told her before, the game, 'You're gonna hit a big shot,'" Belden said. "I see it. She can shoot the ball. She just needed to get over the roadblock." Erieyonna Buckley banked in a lefty hook, then Olivia Emerson scored Port Clinton's final six points. "Erie had a good post move," Belden said. "We got to the line, made some free throws, Olivia Emerson did a great job with that." All five of PC's starters finished with full stat lines. Lanier added seven rebounds to her 20 points. Emerson had nine points with 10 boards, and Spencer had nine and six. Cornell totaled six points and four rebounds, and Buckley added five points and a game-high 11 boards. "That's what we need," Belden said. "We're down a couple bodies, so we need all five contributing." It's a win that could go a huge way toward district seeding with the draw coming up on Sunday. PC entered the night ahead of Perkins already and just widened the gap. More importantly for Port Clinton, though, they fixed their flaws from a 20-point defeat at Willard in a huge bounceback victory. "We played as a team, we played together," Lanier said. "Friday, the bus ride sucked, we were late, it was just not a good day. But we bounced back today and got the dub." And as far as Lanier goes, there might be just one downside to all the records. When Belden saw PC athletic director Rick Dominick after the game, he asked for some new basketballs. Every time Lanier breaks a scoring mark, she takes another commemorative one home. "What's even cooler is how great a kid she is, how hard she works," Belden said. "Her family is amazing. She's a good student. Just been blessed my first couple years to have someone like her." PERKINS Ellie Manion 2 1-4 7; Haylie Brunner 2 0-0 6; Jordyn Brunner 1 0-0 2; Camryn VanVlerah 5 1-4 11; Kendall Zeiher 4 2-2 13. TOTALS 14 4-10 39 PORT CLINTON Olivia Spencer 3 1-2 9; Madelyn Cornell 2 1-2 6; Erieyonna Buckley 2 1-2 5; Da'Cariya Lanier 7 4-4 20; Olivia Emerson 2 5-6 9. TOTALS 16 12-16 49 Perkins 4 18 6 11 — 39Port Clinton 15 9 13 12 — 49 3-point goals — Perkins 7 (Zeiher 3, Manion 2, H. Brunner 2); Port Clinton 5 (Lanier 2, Spencer 2, Cornell 1)