Lawrence freshman Amirah Brown attempts a shot in front of Ewing’s bench in a game at Ewing High School, Feb. 5, 2010. (Staff photo by Myles Ma.)

A late-season matchup between two struggling girls’ basketball teams proved to be a showcase for the younger players of Lawrence High and Ewing High. Though the two teams have had disappointing seasons, their freshman and sophomore players made cases for a strong future for both teams.

Freshman Candice Mason led Ewing with 13 points in a 45-40 win for the Blue Devils. Mason has run the team as the starting point guard the entire season, displaying an ability to attack the basket and get to the free throw line or hit mid-range jumpers for points.

Mason’s goal this season was simply to learn to play on the varsity level, but on a Ewing team that has been up and down this season — the win lifted them to 5-12 — Mason has emerged as a leader, running the team and providing a spark on offense. She had to have a strong game against a Lawrence team whose intensity was inconsistent at times, but gave the Blue Devils all they could handle in the second half.

“[Playing in close games] does rattle us a bit but we fight through it and we came out on top today,” Mason said.

Ewing coach Mike Reynolds said Mason worked hard to earn her starting spot.

“She’s very talented,” he said. “She worked out the entire summer leading up to the school year.”

Reynolds said the veterans on the team had helped Mason and Sarah Kelley, another freshman, get up to speed during the season, showing the young players how to turn practice into results on the court. He said he had high hopes for their development.

“If they work really hard on fundamentals, learning the game, they’re going to be exceptional in a year or two,” Reynolds said.

Lawrence is in the midst of its own youth movement. While freshman Daphne Ginn has already proven herself an adept scorer, recent addition Brooke West, a freshman guard, has given the Cardinals another slasher with a mean streak. Lawrence coach Dana Williams said West would do anything for her teammates. West got involved in a few scrums for the ball, and at one point ripped the ball right out of a Ewing player’s hands.

“I bring my attitude and intensity to every game,” West said.

She also scored seven points, displaying a knack for getting to the basket. The Cardinals also got eight points out of sophomore Kelly Shillaber, who has established herself as the team’s low-post threat over the course of the season.

“She’s finishing layups for us and she has the best attitude I think that a forward can have,” Williams said. “If she does make a mistake it seems like she gets it back on the defensive end.”

For the Cardinals, it was just the latest in a string of close losses this season.

“I think this season we’re hitting the bumps and we’re plowing through them because our attitudes are staying high,” she said. “I mean you can see in the fourth quarter of the game no matter what the scoreboard says, our kids are still diving on the floor, they’re still boxing out, they’re still battling for every play and that just shows their character and I think that’s just really going to help us next year.”