Spectators packed Lake Clifton's gymnasium yesterday anticipating a close contest between the area's top two teams.
On the same court 10 months ago, the Lakers' upset bid against Western went down to the final second before falling a point short.
There was no drama this time.
All-America forward Chanel Wright scored 19 points and All-Metro guard Kimberly Smith added 14, as Western tightened its hold on the area's No. 1 ranking with a 69-41 rout of No. 2 Lake Clifton in a City-Wide 4A League game.
Instead of resembling Western's 60-59 win at Lake Clifton last February, yesterday's contest was more in line with last season's two other meetings between the teams -- both of which the Doves won by 20.
Is there really this much difference between No. 1 and No. 2?
Western coach Breezy Bishop doesn't think so.
"When they come to play at Western [on Jan. 27], I know that Lake will be ready because they are great athletes," Bishop said. "Just because we played a little bit better today, they're not going to let this keep them down. They'll come back with a mighty force."
Both teams appeared to be tight in the early going, as Western missed its first six shots and Lake Clifton turned the ball over on eight of its first nine possessions.
Smith scored the game's first field goal with a drive to the basket 2:30 into the game and the Doves (5-0, 1-0) never relinquished the lead.
The Lakers (4-1, 0-1), who were led by senior point guard Lashina Gross (15 points), recovered from an 8-2 deficit to pull within 10-9 after Janika Conley completed a three-point play. But Western then scored 13 consecutive points in a 17-2 run and maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way.
Most of Western's points in that spurt were off transition. Lake Clifton had difficulty with the Doves' swarming man-to-man defense, consistently making ill-advised passes.
The Lakers were 6-for-25 from the field in the first half -- including 0-for-7 from three-point range -- with 16 turnovers.
Instead of working the ball inside to 6-foot-6 center Natisha Ferguson or attacking the basket, Lake Clifton repeatedly shot and missed from outside. For the game, the Lakers were 2-for-13 on three-point attempts.
"We were so dependent on the outside shot that we went away from our slashing defense and communicating with one another," Lake Clifton coach James Monroe said. "We had been doing quite well with the outside jumper. We have three guards who can fill the bucket up, but [yesterday] was one of those days where we couldn't hit a shot if we paid for it."
It didn't get any better for Lake Clifton in the second half, as Western opened the third quarter on a 12-4 run to extend its advantage to 25 points.
The large lead afforded Bishop the opportunity to get some playing time for her bench, specifically freshmen Tyesha McMillon (four points) and Keita Moore (two points), who are projected to be major contributors in the future.
Western also received strong efforts from senior starters Danielle Davis (10 points) and Tesha Tinsley (10 points).