Leroux returns from injury, sparks South Fayette in rout of CV
McDONALD – Juliette Leroux has been patiently waiting to get cleared to return to play after suffering an ankle injury three weeks ago.
The opportunity finally came Thursday night and when she got into the game, she provided a spark that got South Fayette rolling.
Leroux scored 11 of South Fayette’s 16 points in the second quarter and the Lions cruised from there to a 72-41 victory over Chartiers Valley in a battle of the top two teams in the Class 5A Section 3 standings.
“I was super excited to get back in there,” Leroux said. “I’ve been sitting on the bench watching my teammates and obviously rooting for them, but I wanted to be on the court. I love basketball.”
Leroux checked in off the bench midway through the first quarter and started to heat up in the second. She scored 11 of South Fayette’s 16 points in the frame and did so in a variety of ways.
She had a steal on an inbound that she went coast to coast on, a lay up on a rebound, a jumper, a shot in the lane off a pass from Ryan Oldaker and went 3 for 4 from the free throw line.
Lions coach Bryan Bennett said the plan for now is to ease Leroux back into things, but Thursday was an encouraging start.
“The plan tonight was to hopefully tire them out a little and bring her in fresh,” Bennett said. “We’ll gradually increase her minutes, but she’s looked good in practice. In the first two days of live contact she looked like she hadn’t missed a beat.”
The Colts (4-1, 8-5) got to within five points in the second, but Leroux’s big quarter helped expand the lead to 35-23 for South Fayette at halftime.
“I wanted to start, but (Bennett) wanted to ease me back into it andI understand that,” Leroux said. “That kind of lit a fire under me. I wanted to come out with a spark and I did that.”
The Lions (6-0, 13-1) put the game away in the third quarter by outscoring the Colts, 19-10.
Haylie Lamonde had nine points in the frame.
Lamonde, Cierra Rexrode and Alex Anrkum had a 3-pointer apiece and Lions’ lead ballooned to 54-33.
Lamonde finished with a game-high 19 points and Lailah Wright scored 10.
In total, eight girls scored for the Lions.
“We have a lot of depth and a lot of talented kids,” Bennett said. “(Leroux) gets a lot of press, but Haylie was a big part of our team last year and she’s coming on really strong. Ryan (Oldaker) is back and people forgot about how good her freshman year was (after an injury forced her to miss most of last season). We have a lot of kids that are going to play high level basketball at the next level. I’m very fortunate. It’s my job not to mess it up.”
South Fayette put the clamps down defensively in the first quarter, forcing 11 turnovers.
The Lions struggled to cash in those turnovers early on, but eventually got into a rhythm on offense. Oldaker had seven points in the quarter and Haylie Lamonde scored five. Oldaker, Lamonde and Ella Vierra sank one 3-pointer each and the Lions led 19-10 after one.
The Lions forced 29 turnovers in the game and ended up putting the game into mercy rule in the fourth.
“I was most pleased with our discipline,” Bennett said of his defense. “We were getting in the habit of reaching too much in previous games, which put girls on the bench with foul trouble and we had to ease off our pressure. We rotate eight or nine kids in that don’t miss a beat and teams are going to wear down, because it can be tough to play at that pace.”