Paradise senior Renlee Longenbaugh drives by a Boyd defender Tuesday in the Battle of 114. Longenbaugh scored 29 points in the Lady Panthers’ 78-32 road win. BRENDAN MARCHAND | WCMESSENGER
Paradise senior Renlee Longenbaugh dropped 29 points and six 3-pointers to help the 3A No. 6 Lady Panthers to a blowout road win against Boyd Tuesday, 78-32.
With the win, the Lady Panthers (28-4, 12-0) capped off an undefeated run in District 10-3A to earn the league championship outright.
“We played smart, and did a lot of different things really well. I told the girls regardless of the score difference, these wins and the way we handled things tonight can only help us in the playoffs,” Paradise coach Michael Barnes said. “We knew Boyd would come out and do everything they could on their home court, but we were prepared to face that.”
Paradise jumped out to a double-digit lead four minutes into the rivalry contest. The Lady Panthers’ stout defense trapped Boyd’s (12-20, 4-8) ball handlers from the jump, which allowed the Paradise offense to open up on the other end of the floor. The Lady Jackets were unable to get shot attempts up until late in the first, where Paradise had already sped ahead 22-7 by the end of the period.
Paradise (28-4, 12-0) claimed an undefeated championship in District 10-3A with the blowout win against Boyd Tuesday. BRENDAN MARCHAND | WCMESSENGER
After spreading the scoring duties around in the first quarter, Longenbaugh took things into her own hands in the second. She splashed in two shots from beyond the arc, drove past her defender for an easy layup and was a perfect 3-for-3 from the free throw line.
“Everyone just did what we’re coached to do and what we’re good at,” Longenbaugh said. “The screens were great, rollers were getting open, people were making good cuts, handoffs were there — the floor just seemed wide open. And in the transition offense, it was just one pass and the ball went up.”
Boyd rattled in an early three in the second quarter, but Paradise’s defense held them scoreless for the next five minutes. Rhya Lugo was able to help snap the Lady Jackets’ cold streak and pour in 7 points in the second frame, but the Lady Panthers still took a 48-19 lead into the locker room at half.
“We take pride in the way we practice and the way we drill. It’s what we try to bring every day and to every game,” Coach Barnes said. “That defensive consistency is the expectation. We had a lot of deflections that went our way, we ran through and jumped some passes and created a lot of three-on-one and four-on-two opportunities, and no matter who you are, that’s hard to defend.”
Longenbaugh continued to light things up from deep, landing a trio of 3-pointers in the third quarter. Boyd’s offensive woes that reappeared in the second half weren’t for a lack of skill in shotmaking, but rather an inability to get the ball up the floor or find an open path to the basket because of Paradise’s terrorizing defense.
“One thing we tried to key on defensively was our rebounding. We struggle with that the most because of our size, so we focused on blocking out well and going up strong for the ball,” Longenbaugh said. “We can’t let people go over our heads and take advantage of our height on the defensive side, so we have to use our athleticism. In playoffs, it’s really going to make a difference if we can get a rebound get into transition quick.”
Paradise held Boyd scoreless in the fourth quarter while six different players for the Lady Panthers scored from the field. Paradise freshman Hartley Barnes closed out her night with 5 fourth quarter points to finish second in scoring (18) behind Longenbaugh.
Coach Barnes said he feels like his team is peaking at the right time ahead of another hopeful run to the state tournament.
“Our momentum is based off of our defense and getting good looks off of that, and I’ve seen that come together,” Coach Barnes said. “Kids are really good shooters when they’re wide open, and that starts with getting a stop and running in transition. I was really happy to see out of the transition the paint touch to a kick-out or backside dump. All those things go hand-in-hand, especially for our team, and when we get those we’re hard to stop.”
Paradise freshman Hartley Barnes soars through traffic for a layup against Boyd Tuesday. She netted 18 points in the 78-32 win. BRENDAN MARCHAND | WCMESSENGER
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