PARKERS CHAPEL – On an unseasonably warm January evening, Parkers Chapel’s Lady Trojans picked a bad time to go cold.
The Lady Trojans made just one field goal in the fourth quarter and let a 10-point lead slip away Tuesday in a 58-53 loss to Spring Hill.
The game was a battle for first in the league. The Lady Trojans fell to 6-2 overall and 4-1 in conference. The Lady Bears improved to 8-4 and 2-0 in league play.
Spring Hill trailed 47-37 with 6:31 left in the fourth quarter before going on a 14-2 run to take the lead.
“This is a tough place to come and win in Parkers Chapel,” said Spring Hill coach Austin Kidd. “Very proud of the girls and their energy in the fourth quarter. We really played solid defense and knocked down some important free throws.
“You’ve got to give PC a lot of credit. They were number one in conference coming into this. So, this is a game we really wanted. I’m just so proud of our girls’ energy and our effort.”
Ali Looney hit a 3-pointer with 7:13 left in the fourth to give the Lady Trojans a 46-35 advantage. It would be the final field goal of the game for PC.
“It was a lack of focus and a lack of just executing,” said PC coach Justin Welch. “We kind of did some things that were out of our wheelhouse. We let that pressure get to us. I felt like it was a lack of focus issue there down the stretch. We just were making turnovers.”
PC entered the game down a starter due to COVID protocol. Point guard Lexi Moss fouled out with 4:39 left in the fourth. Looney fouled out with 1:59 remaining.
With two ball handlers on the bench, the Lady Bears swarmed the defensive pressure. Parkers Chapel struggled with turnovers but also had several shots rim out in the final period.
Spring Hill, on the other end, drained big shots down the stretch. Erin McMasters hit a 3-pointer and Paige Runion converted a three-point play during the 14-2 run. Brooklyn Reed gave the Lady Bears a 51-49 lead with two free throws with 2:55 remaining.
Looney hit a free throw for PC but Runion nailed a huge 3-pointer from the corner with 1:12 left.
Spring Hill drilled 11 free throws in the final period. McMasters was 3-of-4 in the final 34.5 seconds.
“We had a lot of shots inside that rolled around and came out. The girls battled to the end,” said Welch, who talked about playing without one of his key players.
“I’m not going to say that’s the reason why because they played a real good ball game. I don’t want to take anything from them. But I did feel like we were out of rhythm. I was having to sub and get fresh legs in there and it was just a different rotation. It hurts you but it’s the world we live in and we have to adjust to it.”
McMasters scored 14 for Spring Hill with Runion and Reed adding 13 and 12, respectively.
Looney led PC with 18 points and three assists. Drue Thomas scored 17 with nine rebounds. Macie Wood had a solid all-around game with seven points, nine boards, four assists and three steals.
“As a coach, I’m going to go back and look at all my decisions. I’ll go back and look at the way I rotated players. I’ll take full credit for this loss. These girls give me effort every single time so at the end of the day, this loss is on me,” said Welch.
“At the end of the day it goes down in the book as a loss. But I’m hoping down the road we can turn this tough loss into a really hardcore win. I feel like got some experience out of it. It wasn’t all negative. I feel like we played three really good periods of basketball. That last one just came back to haunt us. We just have to learn from it and move on.”
Parkers Chapel’s junior high girls won 39-20 to run their record to 7-0 overall and 3-0 in conference.
Makenzie Morgan led the Lady Trojans with 14 points. Bella Frisby added 10 and Krista Rivers scored seven.