Lamb Gives Eagles A Big Lift St. John-Endicott Comes From Behind, Tops Summit In First-Round Girls Game

In like a lion, out because of a Lamb.

Tricia Lamb did everything but man the concession stand in leading the defending state champion St. John-Endicott Eagles to a come-from-behind 46-43 victory over the Summit Invaders in Thursday morning’s session of the opening round of the girls State B basketball tournament at the Arena.

Lamb dominated the game by scoring 23 points and bringing in 13 rebounds.

Lamb scored the first seven points as the Eagles jumped out to a 7-2 lead with 4:48 left in the first period.

But Summit roared back, behind the 10 points of senior forward Nicole Counts, with a a 12-0 run that gave the Invaders a 14-7 advantage. Counts contributed a pair of layups, two rebound baskets and two freethrows.

Brooke Bafus’ 3-pointer with 1 second left in the quarter snapped a 4:47 scoring drought and pulled SJE to within 14-10.

The Eagles further fell behind 20-12 before ripping off 11 straight points, seven by Lamb, to take a 23-20 lead at the half. Summit was shut out over the final 4:51 of the second period.

“You know, I bet we played 12 to 15 games just like this one this year,” said Eagles coach Lorin Carlon. “One team would go on a big run and the other would come back with a run of its own. We were in so many games like this that I think that really helped us.”

Summit’s leading scorer, Lexi Rhodes (12.6 points per game), had three baskets to open the third quarter as the Invaders retook the lead 26-25.

Once again, St. John-Endicott’s defense stiffened, holding the Invaders scoreless over a 4:28 span.

Two free throws by Kim Colyar, a basket and a pair of free throws by Desi Zuger and a 3-pointer by Lamb put the Eagles back on top at 34-26.

A scoop shot by Yuuki Terada snapped Summit’s scoreless streak with 5 seconds left in the quarter.

The fourth period began with a Summit run.

A layup by Carrie Rhodes, two inside buckets by Lexi Rhodes and a 3-pointer by Terada led a 9-2 spurt that put the Invaders ahead 37-36 with 3:19 to play.

Terada’s shot was Summit’s only basket from outside 5 feet in the game.

“We really shut them down from outside,” Carlon said. “But we sure gave up a lot of layups. Every time I looked up, they were scoring inside.”

Bafus made the biggest play of the game at the 2:18 mark.

Bafus drove the lane, where she was hammered by Lexi Rhodes, threw up a prayer, and had it answered. The ball rolled around the rim and fell in. Rhodes fouled out, and Bafus nailed the free throw to give SJE a 39-37 lead.

“We knew coming in that we had to stop (Rhodes),” said Carlon. “She is a big, big part of their offense. We held her to two points in the first half, but she got untracked in the second half. That was a key play for us when she fouled out.”

After Counts connected on a pair of free throws that knotted the score with 2:01 left, Bafus knocked down a 3-pointer at the 1:37 mark. Lamb then added both ends of a one-and-one that made it 44-39 lead with 55 seconds remaining.

Although St. John-Endicott is the defending champion, most of the team members are inexperienced in games of this magnitude.

“We only had three girls who played significant minutes in last year’s tournament,” Carlon said. “We’re not that experienced. But we do have Tricia. She just put us on her back and carried us like she’s been doing since she was a freshman.”

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