Feb 8, 2011 By Adam Brewer For The 3 min read

COAL CENTER – The Geibel Catholic girls basketball squad avenged an earlier loss to California at home with a 50-33 victory on the road in Section 4-A play Monday night.

The Lady Gators (8-11, 6-4) lost 38-36 six days ago to their section rival, but were able to handle the pressure better the second time around.

“Six days ago we didn’t handle their pressure and couldn’t get the ball past half court,” Geibel coach Pat Klocek said. “Today, we maybe had two or three turnovers against their press and limited their transition points.”

Both teams have already clinched a playoff spot heading into the contest.

With the loss, the Lady Trojans (10-9, 6-5) are currently in the fourth spot in the section.

“I think we took them for granted tonight,” California coach Chris Minerd said. “We came out complacent and they outplayed us in every phase of the game. They deserved to win tonight. We panic and we fouled too much in the final quarter.”

Both teams came out sluggish to begin the game, but it was California who seemed to carry the early momentum, as it held a 9-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.

In the second, Geibel took its first lead with a 10-4 spree and was up 17-13 with 3:29 left before intermission.

The Lady Gators’ Hannah Lazuka nailed a three-pointer to increase Geibel’s lead, but the Lady Trojans’ Tristen Conway scored an old-fashioned three-point play, and California trailed 22-18 at the half.

California began the third with seven straight points, and a trey by Dani Zajicek gave the Lady Trojans their second lead at 24-22. However, Geibel responded with an 11-2 rally the rest of the period, and held a 33-26 lead at the end of three.

“We were more aggressive to the hoop in that third quarter,” Klocek said. “We were getting to the line and were making our shots. We had good passes from the perimeter. We were up by four, then down by a couple of points, and then we ended the quarter up by seven. We have had those dry spells on offense the whole season.”

The Lady Trojans couldn’t muster a comeback effort in the final eight minutes, as the closest they would get was seven points early in the fourth. The Lady Gators nailed eight-of-12 free throws in the fourth and were led by eight points from Lazuka in the frame.

Lazuka was the leading scorer for Geibel with 18 points. Rachel Erdely collected 16 points, while Brittany Core added seven.

“Hannah is our go to player on offense,” Klocek said. “She handles the ball well and when she makes the proper pass, her teammates get some good looks. We played a little bit better defensively and took some of their drives away in the second half.”

For California, Conway scored 17 points, and Zajicek chipped in 10.

“We missed way too many easy shots tonight,” Minerd said. “When you miss that many lay-ups and foul shots, you are not going to beat a team like Geibel. We had a game plan, but we didn’t execute it. We only have eight players on our team, and we have to stay out of foul trouble and everyone has to look to score.”