Halftime talk gives Lancers needed pep

Chris Fruehling probably never guessed he had an inner Knute Rockne waiting to bust out.

His Lake Park Lancers sure took to his halftime pep talk.

Down six at halftime to Trinity at the Suburban Holiday Showcase, the Lancers blew out the Blazers in the second half for a 59-43 win on Tuesday in Roselle.

"At halftime I kind of challenged them in terms of believing in themselves and playing together as a team," Fruehling said. "It was a tale of two halves. I'm very proud of them."

As tentative as Lake Park (10-2) looked in the first half, the Lancers found another gear after the break. Lake Park made 9 of its 12 field-goal attempts in the third quarter, its first 4 in the fourth and scored 44 points in the second half.

"We started off a little intimidated, but we really turned it around," said Lancers senior Samantha Arnold, who scored 14 of her 21 points in the second half. "We played aggressive and we executed the offense."

Tori Clark, who came off the bench to start the second half along with Carly Willert ahd helped spark the Lancers, had a three-point play in Lake Park's first possession. Devin Johnston swished a turnaround jumper, Arnold scored in the paint and Jenna Aloia scored off a turnover to give Lake Park the lead for good at 24-23 with 5:34 left in the third quarter.

Lake Park outscored Trinity 25-13 in the third quarter, 10 of the Blazers' points courtesy of senior guard Monica Albano. She finished with 25 for Trinity (12-3).

"Lake Park does a heck of a job in that matchup zone they play," Trinity coach Ed Stritzel said. "That second half, their offense got going, we couldn't stop Sam Arnold and our kids got tighter and tighter."

Arnold, held to just 4 points until a 3-pointer late in the second quarter, got it going in the second half and finished with 21 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocks. She had plenty of help. Johnston scored all 15 of her points after the break, and Sarah Drozdowki scored 8 of her 10 points in the second half.

"Definitely our best half of the year," Johnston said.

Lake Park's win sets up a matchup at Montini on Friday.

"This win gives us a lot of confidence," Arnold said. "It lets us know that we can play with the top teams and we are one of the top teams."