The Lapel Bulldogs had already won four in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 17.3 points), and they went ahead and made it five on Thursday. They blew past Shenandoah 54-30. Given Lapel's advantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 45th, while Shenandoah is ranked 243rd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Lapel was led to victory by Madelyn Poynter and Laniah Wills. Poynter scored 16 points along with three steals, while Wills scored 17 points along with six rebounds and four steals. Rosemary Likens was another key contributor, scoring nine points.
Shenandoah lost despite a true team effort on the offense, the best among them being Rory McKnight, who scored five points along with three steals. McKnight is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in the last six games she's played. Another player making a difference was Lilliana Lynch, who scored six points.
Lapel's victory was their 11th straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 16-3. As for Shenandoah, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 8-9.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Lapel's road trip will continue as they head out to face Pendleton Heights at 7:30 p.m. on January 16th. Pendleton Heights is also coming in off of a big victory, so somebody is in for a big reversal of fortune. As for Shenandoah, they will head out on the road to challenge Randolph Southern at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. Hopefully Randolph Southern focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 17 on Wednesday.
