Ridge Outlasts Lakeland In Physical District Basketball Game
Thu. December 06, 2012 at 1:00 a.m. | By Solange Reyner
By BILL KEMP
LEDGER MEDIA GROUP
DAVENPORT | It was the first district game for both Lakeland and Ridge Community, but the play was as physical as if it were the last game of the year.
Proving it, Lakeland picked up 21 points from the free-throw line, but it wasn't enough.
Ridge built a small seven-point halftime lead and hung on for a 63-52 victory on Wednesday in a Class 7A, District 7 boys basketball match-up.
"It's always good to get off to a good start and in this district it is going to be physical," Ridge Community coach Don Skipper said. "It's just something we have to learn to play with and play through."
The Bolts had three players score in double figures, led by Brian Chouoloupe's 12 points and six rebounds. The senior guard started the scoring with an explosive alley-oop dunk that set the physical tone for the night.
Seniors Luis Zayas and Kareem Smith each added 11 points, while Tim Williams pulled down 10 rebounds and pitched in seven points for the Bolts.
"We did good on offense and defense but we could have done a little better throughout the game," Chouloupe said. "We had a chance to get open rebounds, but we missed them, and we just have to get better at doing that."
Lakeland guard Logan Senechek led all scorers with 20 points. Dexter Brown added 12. and Tajuan Payne scored seven for the Dreadnaughts.
Senechek, who nailed a pair of key 3-pointers coming off screens in the first half, landed another with 2:09 remaining in the game to narrow Ridge's lead to 53-52.
The Bolts, however, pulled away at the end, scoring the last 10 points of the game.
"Lakeland is going to play tough," Skipper said. "Coach (Deron) Collins coached those guys up really well. They are never done until there are all zeroes on the clock in the fourth quarter. We just have to keep getting better ourselves. We're just now getting football guys out and things are a little rough around the edges."
LAKELAND (52): Logan Senechek 20, Andrus Woods 4, Dexter Brown 12, Trenton Pearson 2, Tajuan Payne 7, Alec Hannigan 2, Jalen Steveson 3, Jake Foster 2. Totals: 16, 21-23, 52.
RIDGE (63): Luis Zayas 11, Kareem Smith 11, Mike Hall 2, Brian Chouloupe 12, Tim Williams 7, Dimitri Holliday 7, Ja De' Ran Johnson 3, Alex Dyte 4, Marcus Russell 6. Totals: 27, 9-17, 63.
Lakeland 16 12 13 11 — 52
Ridge 16 19 13 15 — 63
Records: Lakeland (1-3, 0-1), Ridge ( 4-2, 1-0).
