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Legacy’s defense locks down Arbor View in victory

Throw the records out of the window when Legacy’s girls basketball team faces off with Arbor View because they don’t seem to matter.

When the teams met for the first time this season in early January at Legacy, the Longhorns came away with a one-point victory in overtime.

On Tuesday, Legacy trailed the Aggies for close to 2½ quarters before pulling away for a 45-41 road win.

“Both teams were probably feeling like they should have won that first game,” Legacy coach Tiffany Richardson said. “We were thinking we should have won by more. So we knew it was going to be a tough game tonight.”

The Longhorns (21-5, 8-3 Northwest League) were led in scoring by junior Taeha Pankey, who had 15 of her 17 points in the second half after getting into early foul trouble in the first quarter.

“I had to sit her down,” Richardson said. “I don’t like them going into the third quarter with three fouls, so I figured if we could just weather the storm, when she came back into the game I knew we would be fine.”

Pankey scored the first two points of the game for the Longhorns but didn’t score again until opening the second half with a 3-pointer.

“Whoever’s name I called off the bench they stepped up,” Richardson said. “Nobody made excuses. I think that’s something I can take away from this game.”

Legacy did not lead until about three minutes into the third quarter when a 3-pointer by Pankey put the Longhorns up 24-22. The Aggies (11-13, 6-5) kept it close but committed too many turnovers down the stretch and were unable to close the gap.

Arbor View outscored Legacy 17-10 in the first quarter before Legacy made adjustments on defense to limit the Aggies to just five points in the second quarter and nine in the third.

“They were pretty much picking apart our press defense in the beginning,” Richardson said. “So I just decided that press was done and let’s just get back and play some solid half-court defense. They were getting some easy baskets.”

Arbor View was led in scoring by junior Autumn Westmoreland with 18 points, and senior Kalli Hosier scored all 12 of her points in the first half.

“Once we adjusted, it was much tougher for them to score,” Richardson said.

Contact reporter Bill Slane at bslane@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4559. Follow @bill_slane on Twitter.

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