Lady Cobras withstand surge by Lady Eagles
FOUNTAIN LAKE — Fountain Lake struggled late in the third quarter and early in the fourth quarter, but the Lady Cobras held on to take a 48-32 win over Cutter Morning Star in the Fountain Lake Christmas Classic Wednesday.
The Lady Cobras (5-4, 0-2 4A-7) held a 22-15 lead at intermission after a bucket by Selena Gasca off an assist from Sierra Wilmath late in the second quarter.
Fountain Lake took control of the game early in the second half with a 9-2 spurt over the opening 1:20 to take a 31-17 lead before stretching to a 3617 lead by the 4:29 mark of the third stanza. The Lady Eagles started their comeback at the 2:10 mark with a Gasca bucket to kickstart a 6-3 spurt to pull within 38-23 going into the fourth.
“We had a spurt there, late third, early fourth, where we didn’t score, didn’t look to score, had some turnovers, and kind of let them back in it. … We’ve got to be under control, you know, in those situations. We’ve got to learn how to get under control in those situations. So something we’re going to have to work on for sure,” said Fountain Lake head coach Matt Carter.
A putback by Devin Humphries and a pair of free throws by Gasca pulled the Lady Eagles within 38-27 with just 1:11 off the clock, but Cutter Morning Star was unable to continue the spurt.
“Well, I challenged our girls (Tuesday) night and (Wednesday) that I didn’t feel like we competed very well (Tuesday),” said Cutter Morning Star head coach B.J. Rogers. “And I told them, I said, ‘All I want to see is effort. Compete. Make your team, make your school, make your community proud,’ and I thought we did that. I thought we competed, and that’s all I can ask for.”
A layup by Mary Drakes with 4:04 left was enough to get the Lady Cobras back on track as they closed out the game on a 10-5 run.
“That’s just kind of way it goes for us right now, you know,” Carter said. “A young team, a really young team, trying to learn a new system, trying to learn how to do things a different way. You’re gonna have mistakes, mistake-filled games. I get that. I wish we would limit our turnovers a little bit more. But yeah, a win’s a win, and we’ll take it.
“We played good at times, though. We squirted it out to 20 points there in the second half, looked real good. Just got to find a way to finish it off, but we will.”
It was the Lady Eagles that got things going at the start with Gasca sinking three free throws with 1:01 off the clock before sinking another one 23 seconds later to make it 4-0 in favor of the visiting team. The Lady Cobras managed to tie the game at the 3:11
mark before Cutter Morning Star closed out the frame on a 5-2 spurt.
Carter got his team back on track to start the second quarter as the Lady Cobras hit an 11-2 run to take an 18-11 lead with 4:30 left in the half. Humphries knocked in another putback before the Lady Eagles’ Kalyn Reed had one of her own, and Kara Martin and Reanna Norman both sank a free throw apiece before Gasca’s half-ending bucket.
“All we preached when I first got here this summer is three E’s — energy, effort, enthusiasm,” Rogers said. “If you have those, we can correct everything else, but if I’m having to pull hard work and effort and energy out there, we’re gonna struggle. They brought the three E’s, and we messed up on some little things, missed several blockouts, couple unforced turnovers, didn’t execute a couple sets right. But those are correctable, and you can’t correct energy. You either have it, or you don’t, and we brought it tonight, so I’m proud of them for that.”
Drakes led the Lady Cobras with 16 points, 12 rebounds, three steals, a block and an assist. Martin added 12 points, nine rebounds, a steal, a block and an assist, Davis had 10 points with four steals, four assists and a rebound, Lainey Davis put up four points, two rebounds, an assist and a steal, Keylee Weeks tallied three points, Karmyn Whiley finished with two points and a rebound, and Norman rounded out the scoring with one point, six rebounds and a block.
Gasca led Cutter Morning Star with 19 points, three rebounds and three steals, Humphries added nine points, six rebounds, a steal and a block, and Kyleigh Covey and Reed rounded out the scoring with two points each. Covey also had two rebounds, a steal and an assist.