Palm Beach Lakes was able to neutralize Vionise Pierre-Louis, Grandview Prep's 6-foot-5 senior center, for three quarters Wednesday night, but the Oklahoma signee showed in the decisive fourth quarter why she's one of the top-rated players in Palm Beach County.
Pierre-Louis scored 17 of her 27 points in the fourth quarter, including the game-winning free throws with 6.6 seconds remaining to lift Grandview Prep to a 69-68 win against Lakes in a matchup of county powers at Grandview's gym.
The loss is the first for Lakes (12-1), which will face another county power Saturday when the Rams host Dwyer. The victory improves Grandview, which lost in last year's Class 2A state semifinals, to 12-2 and gives the Pride a confidence boost after losing back-to-back games in an Orlando tournament during the Christmas holiday break.
"This is absolutely enormous for us," Grandview Prep coach Gary Downing said. "We grew up from those [losses in Orlando]."
The game was a see-saw battle from the opening tipoff to the final buzzer, when Xena Dove's three-point shot made it a one-point final result.
Senior guard Neydja Petithomme also delivered a big game for Grandview, scoring 23 points. Johnson was the other double-digit scorer for Lakes with 14 points.
"We failed to box out [against Pierre-Louis] in the end, but overall I'm very proud of my kids," Lakes coach Cassandra Rahming said. "They'll learn a lot from this game."
GRANDVIEW PREP 69, PALM BEACH LAKES 68
PBL (12-1): Johnson 7-0-14, Green 3-0-6, Thigpen 13-8-34, Xa. Dove 2-3-7, Redmon 0-0-0, Sligh 1-0-2, Duporte 1-0-2, Xe. Dove 1-0-3.
GP (12-2): Burgess 2-1-5, Isaac 2-4-8, Pierre-Louis 8-11-27, Petithomme 8-5-23, Conrad 2-0-6.
3-pointers: Petithomme 2, Conrad 2, Xe. Dove. Halftime: GP 31-27.