Midway through the second quarter, Live Oak girls basketball coach Mike Kiefer called timeout unhappy with the way his girls were playing.
His team was down 8-7 with a little more than three minutes to play in the half and his challenge to the team literally echoed in the gym.
It paid off.
From that timeout on, Live Oak went on a 10-0 scoring run to take a 17-8 lead at the half and the defense put things away.
“They came out and finally found the energy,” Kiefer said. “We were denying them, getting the steals, making some mistakes, but we were getting after it, but we couldn’t score that bucket We couldn’t extend that lead.”
The Acorns downed Leland 36-16 Thursday in a game not won because of Live Oak’s shooting, but because its defense just didn’t allow the Chargers to get anything to fall.
Live Oak (11-1, 2-0) now has another winning streak going, after falling to Santa Clara on Jan. 2. The Acorns came out on Tuesday and defeated Santa Teresa by 15 in a game where they jumped out early and held the Saints at bay.
Kiefer said he accepts blame for the girls coming into the Leland game so flat after such a good win.
“As a coach, I need to figure out how to get them focused. I put that on my shoulders,” Kiefer said. “The girls are here to play and I need to figure out if it’s our game plan or maybe something Leland is doing. I’ll watch the video to be ready for next time.”
Until the fourth quarter, Leland had three times as many turnovers (28) as it did points (9).
By the end of the game, it fell to just twice as many turnovers as points (31 turnovers against 16 points).
“Our defense was phenomenal. Entering the fourth quarter we held them to nine points. Our defense all around was a great defensive effort,” Kiefer said. “Also we controlled the boards on the defensive end. We limited them to one shot, one opportunity and not a whole lot of extra opportunities.”
After Kiefer called his timeout, Leland could barely get the ball across half court for the remainder of the second quarter.
And when the Chargers did, they couldn’t get a shot off, getting hit with a couple of shotclock violations.
They were held to one point in the third quarter and were held without a field goal from about the 6-minute mark of the second until the 6:16 mark of the fourth.
Leland was outscored 25-1 during that stretch.
Live Oak upped its lead to 30-9 in the third quarter, thanks to a 13-point effort with the combined shooting of Grace Smith, Julieanna Blotz and McKenzie Lothrop.
The post play of Lothrop Blotz and Lindsay Baker were a bright spot under the basket as the trio combined for 15 of the team’s 30 boards.
“They three of them combined did an excellent job. I think the three of them combined brought a lot of energy,” Kiefer said. “It was really our posts that carried us tonight in the all around aspect.”
Kiefer also said Blotz comes to play hard defensively and adds just enough on offense to make a solid team that much better.
“She has great defensive footwork. She’s been phenomenal on the boards. Against Santa Clara she had 18 rebounds,” Kiefer said. She’s been great there leading our post game. … What she does defensively, we can’t be without her.
Lothrop led with eight points and six boards.
“She brings energy. She brings physicality. She’s a tough, tough young lady,” Kiefer said. “When she comes onto the floor, she brings a different dynamic.”
Smith followed with six and Blotz and Fayth Lyon both had five.
By the fourth quarter, Kiefer had taken out most of his regular rotation players and Leland took advantage to the tune of seven points.
But it wasn’t enough to erase the 21-point margin.
Live Oak will next taken on Andrew Hill in San Jose on Tuesday before returning home 7 p.m. Jan. 14 to host Oak Grove.
