Storm vs. Lighthouse

NLC Storm 48 Lighthouse Eagles 45

For the second year in a row, the New Life Storm swept to a regular season first place finish in the East Region of the NCHE conference. But it wasn't easy. The Storm had to come back from a 6-point deficit in the final 2 minutes to pull out the win. The Eagles went inside early and used their height advantage to score. On the other end, their 1-2-2 zone seemed to bother the Storm, as their height in the lane allowed them to extend pressure on the ball on the perimeter. The Storm was also not able to get any fast break points. A back-and-forth half ended in a 22-22 tie. Lighthouse jumped out quickly in the second half, hitting two quick threes and scoring the first 8 points of the half. The lead stretched as high as 10 before the Storm began to come back. With Lighthouse leading 45-39, Hannah Grace hit a 3-pointer. Then with under 1 minute left in the game, Shelby pulled down an offensive rebound and was fouled. To that point, NLC had made only 4 of 16 free throws, but Shelby hit both to make the score 45-44. After several turnovers by both teams in a frenzied final minute, Hannah Grace was fouled on a fast break with 7 seconds remaining. She made both FT to give the Storm the lead - their first lead of the 2nd half. A full court press then led to a Lighthouse turnover and Hannah Grace grabbed a steal and scored to ice the game. Hannah Grace led the Storm in scoring with 14 points (7 of them in the final 2 minutes). Daryl grabbed 9 rebounds and Rebecca had 4 assists to lead the team.