Girls’ basketball: No. 15 Langley uses big second half to pull away in win
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Version 0 of 1. For the first 61 seconds of the second half Friday night, No. 15 Langley looked a lot like they had in the 12 minutes prior. An athletic 3-2 zone from H.D. Woodson and the addition of a 30-second shot clock for the citywide She Got Game Classic forced the Saxons to settle for outside jumpers, and as a result points were not coming as a pace they were used to. But when senior guard Lizzy Shamloo’s wide-open three pointer from the top of the circle found the bottom of the net to end the minute-long possession, whatever offensive woes limited the Saxons (4-0) to 20 points in the first half disappeared for the night. The basket, one of two from behind the arc that Shamloo cashed in on, sparked Langley to 19 of the second half’s first 23 points as it pulled away to a 64-34 win at St. Johns. “I just think we understand what the situation in the game is and we understand what we have to do to win,” said sophomore Jordyn Callaghan, who scored 12 points in the victory. “And we know that if we don’t come out strong in the second half, then the other team is going to make a role and put us in a hole.” A halftime adjustment designed to put more pressure on the original trap after an inbounds pass caused mayhem on the Warriors (0-1) until the final whistle blew. Sophomore guard Diamond McCoy led all scorers with 21 points, including nine of H.D. Woodson’s 11 in the first half, but the team defense on the other end and the flurry of turnovers they caused led to 44-second half points and turned what was a nine-point game at the half into a blowout. “We were getting a lot of steals and they were getting lazy with some of their passes,” said senior guard Paige Galiani. “We had a ton of steals, and that got everything going.” Galiani, who made 60 three-pointers as a junior last season, struggled to find her jump shot in the first half. After halftime though, as shots all around her began to fall through the cylinder, hers did as well, leading to nine second-half points and 12 for the game. “We’re tough, and we find ways to win. We make minor adjustments as a coaching staff, but the players make a lot on their own and I think tonight it showed in the second half,” Coach Amanda Baker said. “They were kind of able to figure it out and they executed on their own.” |