By STEPHEN GLOVER
For the Call
Although last Thursday’s meeting be-tween the Lindbergh and Mehlville girls’ basketball teams was a district semifinal, it carried the pulse of a championship match.
Lindbergh and Mehlville shared the Sub-urban West Conference championship, but Mehlville took a 55-46 decision during the regular season.
The Flyers wanted pay back. Both teams were fighting for pride. And bragging rights were on the line.
The Panthers pounced the Flyers in the first quarter, quickly grabbing a 13-4 lead. But Lindbergh came alive in the second quarter and tacked on 21 points to take a 25-24 advantage at halftime.
“We fell behind 13-4 and came back to take the lead and have the lead by halftime,” Lindbergh head coach Bill Thoele told the Call. “Everybody stepped up and did their job.”
Oddly enough, the Flyers comeback lacked an offensive explosion from senior guard Amy Hake, Lindbergh’s all-time leading scorer, and senior forward Paula Smith. Hake finished with 11 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals. Smith was limited to just two points, two rebounds and two steals.
“The key to that game was Amy Hake and Paula Smith,” Mehlville head coach Ed Feibig told the Call. “What we did was that when Hake or Smith didn’t have the ball, we put more pressure on them than when they did have it. We basically over guarded them so that they didn’t have the ball.”
The Flyers clinged to a one-point 4039 advantage after the third quarter, but the Panthers pulled away in the final minutes of play to post a 55-50 win.
“It was a down-to-the-wire game and we played them tough,” Thoele said. “Mehl-ville did everything they could to keep Amy and Paula out of the game.”
The Panthers were led by the hot hand of Alyse Gordon, who had 19 points, eight re-bounds, two steals and two assists. Of the 19 points, 15 came from three-point range. The sophomore forward has been on fire lately, averaging 17.8 points in her last five games.
“That’s as close to a double-double as you can get,” Feibig said. “She hit those threes and that’s where all the points came from. She’s been a terror the last few weeks.”
The loss for the Flyers signified an end to an era at Lindbergh as Hake, the school’s all-time top scorer, and Smith along with seniors Tara Austin, Kristin Gregory and Lauren Mohan played their final game in the green and gold.
“We’re definitely going to miss our seniors,” Thoele said. “I think we might be a bit more balanced next year. But we’re going to really need more people to step things up.”
