By: Jason Rogers –

On Saturday Jan. 27, the LSE girls’ varsity basketball team defeated Omaha Central 49-28. Going into the game, the Knights knew exactly what they had to do to defeat the Eagles.

“We wanted to control the tempo of the game and work our rotations and communication in our zone defense,” said head coach Kara Graham.

The game plan seemed to work very well, as the Knights got off to a comfortable lead early. Despite the early success, the team was not about to take their foot off the gas.  

“I simply encouraged them to focus on the little things,”Graham said.  “I reminded them of the great defense we were playing early in the game, and how important it was for us to continue focusing on that end of the floor.  When we defend well, our offense seems to feed off that.”

At halftime, the Knights were up 21 to 9.  To continue their success and maintain the lead, Graham made a few adjustments in the locker room.  “[Omaha] Central was able to get the ball to the high post easily in the first half, so we made a few minor changes to our zone [defense].  Offensively, we adjusted specific cuts and movements in our offense for the second half,” she said.

The changes paid off immediately, as the Knights extended their lead to 29-9 following an eight-point run coming out of the break.  They maintained their lead the whole way through, as they finished the third quarter up 36-13, and eventually defeating the Eagles 49-28.