WEST LAFAYETTE — Lauren Kellerman joined an exclusive club, but her Athenians lost the game, as they were defeated by West Lafayette 65-50.
With a free throw at the 1:58 mark of the final quarter, the senior scored her 1,000th point in a Crawfordsville uniform.
She becomes the fifth member of that 1K club, joining Cari Fruits, Mandi Johnson, Alex Gasaway and Lacey Garrett.
“It felt great,” Kellerman said of the moment. “To see all my teammates and fans celebrating and cheering me on, it was very special. I sure wish we had won the game, though. That would have been even more special. played hard. I thought we played really hard tonight.
Finishing with a team-best 20, Kellerman and her defensive allies needed more help in the middle, where Westside’s center Alaina Omonode patrolled.
That senior put 30 points on the board and hauled in 21 rebounds.
“We made their star center work hard for her points,” C’ville coach Tyler Smith said. “After our win Tuesday, I feel good about our team. We communicated well, we worked the ball around the offense well. We just needed some more rebounds, especially in the fourth quarter. We got a lot of good looks, but nothing was falling.”
Crawfordsville held the No. 11 ranked team in 3A in check the first three quarters, and battled back in the second quarter to lead twice.
The Red Devils, who improve to 10-3 on the season, put a couple steaks together to extend the lead, and then cashed in from the line. Crawfordsville had the deficit whittled down to four at 38-34, but that was as close as they could get.
“We did a good job when West Lafayette was concentrating so hard on stopping Kellerman,” Smith said. Shea (Williamson) did really well handling the ball. She sees the floor really well. Megan (Simmons) also gave us a good game. “We are picking up some confidence. We are getting there.”
The Athenians, who fall to 2-9 with the loss, were 14-of-45 from the field and 2-of-5 from long range. They were, however. 20-of-25 from the line.
Simmons had a dozen points and six rebounds for her night, while Maycee York came off the bench to score 10 points and co-lead the Athenians with eight rebounds, along with Williamson.
The Red Devils were 23-of-62 from the field, mostly due to Omonode’s night in the paint. They were 2-of-9 from deep and 17-of-27 from the stripe. They finished with 50 rebounds, compared to C’ville’s 38. They had 17 turnovers, compared to the Athenians 22.
“I’m just so happy for Lauren,” Smith said of Kellerman’s accomplishment. “Weve obviously known it was coming, but she is such a great leader and a great teammate in the locker room. I’m glad it happened tonight.”
The Athenians head back to Tippecanoe County next Tuesday for a game at Central Catholic, and finish the 2019 calendar next Friday with the county and conference matchup with North Montgomery.
WEST LAFAYETTE 65 CRAWFORDSVILLE 50
CRAWFORDSVILLE 11 1114 14 - 50
WEST LAFAYETTE 15 13 19 18 - 65
Crawfordsville (2-9): Reed 0-4 0-0 0, Simmons 6-14 0-1 12, Kellerman 3-11 13-16 20, Williamson 2-4 2-2 6, Sinnet 0-1 0-0 0, York 2-9 5-6 10, Hutchens 0-00-3 0, Balaz 0-1 0-0 0, Kincaid 0-0 0-0 0, Helsel 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 14-48 20-25 50.
West Lafayette (9-3): Shi 3-11 0-1 6, Omonode 11-22 8-13 30, Martin 4-12 5-7 15, Doty 2-6 1-1 5, Reif 2-7 1-1 5, Leeper 0-1 0-0 0, Karlaftis 1-1 0-0 2, DeVault 0-2 0-0 0, Subagia 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-62 17-27 65 .
3-Point Shooting: CHS 2-6 (York 0-1, Kellerman 1-3, Reed 0-2); WL 2-9 (Shi 0-3, DeVault 0-1, Martin 2 -5).
Rebounds: CHS 38 (Kellerman 8, York 8, Simmons 6); WL 50 (Omono,de 21, Doty 7).
Turnovers: Crawfordsville 22, West Lafayette 17.
