Lady Cats roll by Lanesville

Backed by a double-double from Hayley Renneker, North Harrison rolled to a 60-37 victory Thursday night at Lanesville. It was the first meeting between the Harrison County schools in girls’ basketball since the 2001-02 season.
Renneker did the dirty work in the paint, pulling down 11 first-half rebounds. The junior ended the game with 18 rebounds while chipping in 12 points.
‘Hayley had a really good game on the boards,’ North Harrison coach Hal Pearson said. ‘She really went after the ball and had a really good game overall.’
The victory also gave the Lady Cats skipper his 100th career win.
North Harrison limited the Lady Eagles to six first-half points, forcing 15 turnovers. In the first quarter, Renneker had two offensive put-backs, while teammate Emily Giles added another.
The first-half performance was an encouragement for the Lady Cat coaching staff.
‘We looked for the girls to play hard from the start,’ Pearson said. ‘Thinking back to the Mitchell game, we didn’t start real well. Tonight, we were consistent with getting into passing lanes, pressing and setting traps. We’ve been doing those things in practice, and we want to take it to the court the rest of the year.’
Nine different Lady Cats scored in the contest, with Cassie Crawford hitting a pair of treys as part of her 11 points. Kendra Lambert added nine, while Megan Naegele scored seven points.
Lanesville pulled together and finished strong in the second half, backed by a game-best 16 points from Kayla Smith, who knocked down two 3-pointers in the third quarter and continued her efforts into the fourth.
Points came quickly for the Lady Eagles in the fourth quarter, outscoring the visitors 22-10. Brooklynn Keinsley swished two 3s as part of an 8-4 start to the frame.
The late run wasn’t enough for the Lady Eagles, who moved to 4-8. Keinsley reached double figures with 10 points. Erica Daly had five points, and Ashley Schoen had 11 rebounds and four points.
Lanesville will round out a three-game week by hosting Rock Creek Academy tomorrow (Thursday) at 7:30 p.m. and New Harmony on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
North Harrison moved to 5-7 on the season and will face a pair of Mid-Southern Conference foes to close out the week. The Lady Cats will travel to Austin tonight for a 7:30 p.m. tip, and Saturday they will host Clarksville at 2:30 p.m.