Lyons’ tight ‘D’ smothers Downers South

Having home court advantage is a blessing for teams, especially in the beginning of the season. That was the case for Lyons, who defeated Downers South 43-29 Saturday afternoon, to finish their own Thanksgiving tournament undefeated.

The Lions (4-0) employed a tight defense en route to holding the Mustangs to just 11 points in the first half. Every time Downers South tried to start a run, Lyons had a response.

“We knew that we had to play good defense against them, force them intense bad shots and turnovers and we did,” said sophomore Victoria Swift, who finished with 14 points.

After Downers South rallied to close the Lyons lead to 10-7 after the first quarter, the Lions went on a 10-2 run to start the second period. Lions held the Mustangs (2-2) without a field goal for the first 4:25 of the period. The run pretty much put the game out of hand, as the Lions led 26-12 at the half after Gaby Galassini hit a three-pointer at the buzzer.

Downers South was able to cut the lead down as far as 41-27 but Lyons held the ball for the last three minutes-plus of the game.

“Coach told us during the timeouts and halftime we cant get too comfortable,’’ said Swift. “We kinda did that at times but we ended up righting it at the end.’’

By: Michael Wojtychiw

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