WEST ALEXANDRIA — Lindsey Cole was at a loss for words after her Twin Valley South girls basketball team suffered a 70-20 setback to visiting Miami East in a Cross County Conference match-up on Saturday, Dec. 12.
“I’m at a loss right now, really, because this is a team I thought we could compete with at least,” Cole said. “And just the fact that we came out and really, we came out and started the game similar to what we were last year, and I felt we were much improved from where we were last year. So that’s where a little bit of a frustration stems from. Just taking care of all the little things.”
A 12-0 run by the Vikings over a two and a half minute stretch in the first quarter set the tone for the game. East led 18-5 after the first quarter and extended its lead to 39-10 by halftime. It was a 49-15 game after three quarters.
“This season, our first game of the year, we had a full lineup, other than that we’re playing each game with a different lineup. And that’s kind of tough to really settle in,” Cole said. “Missing McKenzie, Neal today. And, frankly, that makes a big difference when you’re missing a key player. But otherwise, we had a good game plan coming in. It was just executing and we know that they’re a strong team. We know what their strengths are and to game-plan against that and make good decisions. They’re a high-pressure defense, and we struggle a little bit against high-pressure defenses. We have guards that can handle the ball. It’s just our decision making and taking care of it.”
Cole felt her team was ready to compete.
“This is the first game we haven’t actually competed strongly with the other team. Despite our lineup being different each game, we’ve actually put up a really strong fight,” she said. “Twin Valley South girls basketball is a team of phenomenal athletes. It’s just having girls that believe in themselves and their abilities. I look at this team, and they’re a great group of athletes, a great group of players. It’s just having them believing in themselves and knowing that they can go out and they can score and they can take care of the ball.”
Cole said senior Taylor Clark stood out.
“Taylor Clark did an excellent job inside in the post for us and played a really strong game despite their tough zone defense making it tough to work the ball inside,” Cole said.
Clark scored a team-high nine points. Abby McGuire, Maycie Davidson and Makiah Newport each had three for South.
The Panthers (1-4) were scheduled to play Yellow Springs on Monday, Dec. 14 and will host National Trail on Thursday, Dec. 17.
