Loss of big girl leaves even bigger hole for LCA

By: Sean Moylan
   If the Life Center Academy girls’ varsity basketball team has learned anything in its early season games, its learned that it doesn’t want to play too many minutes without its center Michelle Odita. On Monday, the Academy of the New Church beat LCA 56-37 at Florence, but the final score told just part of the story.
   "We lost by (19), but we actually were ahead of them. This was the same team we lost to in the ANC Basketball Jamboree. It was close in the first half, but when my big girl, Michelle Odita, fouled out, (they took over inside)," said LCA head coach Peter Pace, who was, nonetheless, impressed with the play of Cayla Bercaw.
   Bercaw led the Warriors in scoring with 12 points while Dominique King knocked down a trio of treys for 9 points and Odita and Jamyne Hinson each chipped in with four points in the contest. Katie Steffen (3 points), Alicia Newsome (3 points) and Ashley Nyul (2 points) were LCA’s other scorers.
   LCA played in the ANC Basketball Jamboree on Saturday, which consisted of four 16-minute games (teams played two eight-minute halves instead of quarters). LCA won its first two before losing to the George School and the host team (Academy of the New Church).
   LCA topped Perkiomen, 21-12, with Hinson leading the charge with 6 points. Odita (4 points), Bercaw (4 points), Nyul (3 points), King (2 points) and Steffen (2 point) also tallied for the winning side.
   Then in its second game, Life Center Academy defeated Community Academy, 24-16. Odita led all scorers with 7 points while Nyul (5 points), King (3 points), Hinson (3 points), Newsome (2 points), Steffen (2 points) all had solid games.
   Bercaw had to leave the tournament early because she is in the big winter production at the school. And, according to Pace, her loss was felt in the final two contests.
   "We ran across a tough George team (which beat LCA 23-7 despite 4 points by Nyul)," noted Pace. "It was a very well-run tournament."
   Then ANC topped LCA, 36-19, in the battle for third place. Nyul scored a team-high 9 points while Hinson had 4 points in the final game.
   LCA is scheduled at Morrisville High on Friday, at Saint Mary’s Hall on Monday and at Solebury School on Tuesday. And you can be sure that Pace will do whatever he can to keep Odita on the floor as much as possible in those contests.