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Lane Tech leaps past Leyden in fourth quarter

Lane Tech senior guard Natasha Bernett was the Class 1A 300-meter low hurdles champion last spring.

Monday night at Addison Trail High School, she was jumping again - off the Indians' bench to contribute some big points in the final quarter.

Bernett had a key steal and layup with 3:57 left in the game and hit a free throw to make it a two-possession game with 20 seconds left.

Classmate Lia Pimentel also came off the bench and hit a pair of big 3-pointers in the game's final four minutes as Lane Tech, which trailed for three quarters, rallied for a 57-53 win over Leyden (2-1).

"I always tell my girls that our bench players are just as important as everyone else," said first-year coach Megan Molloy. "Everyone can have a starting five, but you need a bench."

The win gave the Indians a 3-1 record in the five-team round-robin Fenton/Addison Trail Girls Basketball Tournament -which they also won a year ago, despite losing to Leyden.

"We lost to Leyden twice last year (once at the St. Viator tourney where the teams could meet again this winter) so winning this game was really a goal," said Molloy, whose team was led by Taylor Maj (13 points), Zoey Ellis (11) and Bridget Peterson (9).

"We just started getting down the floor faster in the fourth quarter," said Bernett, who transferred to Lane Tech after competing for Luther North the last three years. "We were really motivated after losing to them last year."

Leyden's biggest lead of the game came at 20-11 when junior Jasmine Igartua hit 2 free throws en route to a career-high 20 points that included two 3-pointers and a 3-point play. Senior Pamela Colmenares also scored 20 points for the Eagles.

Leyden led 41-38 after three quarters but Mikayla Koconis-O'Malley (7 points), another Indian who came off the bench, hit a layup and 2 free throws to give her team a 42-41 lead.

Colmenares' 3-pointer tied the game at 44-44. The score was tied again at 46-46 when Lane Tech took the lead for good on Kayland Jones' inside basket. Bernett then followed with her big steal and layup for a 50-46 lead.

"We need to work on defense," said Leyden coach Stephanie Kuzmanic, a former Wheeling and Carthage College standout guard. "This was a good learning experience. We saw what we needed to work on."

Igartua score 10 of Leyden's 13 points in the third quarter. Colmenares scored 10 of the Eagles' 12 points in the fourth quarter.

Freshman Yaritza Frias chipped in 4 points for Leyden while Amalia Figueroa had a 3-pointer.

" I think it was a lack of effort in the second half," Igartua said. "We had a lot of effort in the first half and then we kind of lost it. We all have to talk as a team and figure out where we went wrong.

"Hopefully, we can learn from this experience. We have a game (today at 5:30 p.m. against Elgin) so hopefully we can get back to winning."

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