Sisters 45
Sweet Home 24
The Husky girls struggled against early foul trouble Friday night in an attempt to avoid a 45-24 loss at Sisters.
“We played the worst game I’ve ever seen them play last night,” Coach Mark Tyler said. “I think we dropped everything that was passed in the first quarter.”
The Huskies ended the night with 26 turnovers, a number that had been growing smaller over the year.
“We did not get the ball off of them, off our press, not one time,” Coach Tyler said. “We just did not react to their press very well.”
Sisters ran an uptempo trap toward the sides, something the girls are used to facing, but it worked, Coach Tyler said. Early foul trouble had its effect on the game.
“We have not lost a game yet because of officials, however that game last night is a game when officials made a huge impact in the game,” Coach Tyler said. “Whether or not we would have won or lost, I don’t know. I’ll say Sisters benefited from much of those calls.”
Coach Tyler received a technical foul during the first quarter. Coach Tyler said he was “amazed” by that call.
“I wasn’t even concerned,” Coach Tyler said of chances of drawing the technical.
Still, he needs to look at himself and the team for the loss, Coach Tyler said. “I thought we were really prepared to go over there and play. We weren’t.”
Sisters led the game 13-4 at the end of the first quarter and 28-14 at halftime. By halftime, Coach Tyler had four girls in foul trouble. Kaci Trask and Amanda Burcham each had two. Jessica Brocard, Kara Watkins and Mahria Zook each had three. Sisters had been called for a total of 11 fouls on the half.
Dealing with frustration from the fouls, the Huskies trailed 40-21 at the end of the third quarter.
After scouting Sisters, the Husky coaches thought the team could have a big impact on the game if they made Sisters handle the ball, Coach Tyler said. Sisters would have to pass the ball, with a good potential for a turnover, or face five-second calls.
“I felt like if we did that, we had a good chance of reaping the benefit of a lot of turnovers,” Coach Tyler said. He thought there were at least 10 times the five-second call should have been made but wasn’t.
Brocard led the team with seven points. Watkings scored six and fouled out; Burcham, five; and Trask, Aman and Zook, two each. Zook also fouled out.
The girls open the second half of the their league schedule against North Marion at home Friday night.
“I think they’re a beatable team if we play the way we did against Central,” Coach Tyler said. “We showed we have the potential when we played at Central.”