Shaking off the rust from their two-week break, the Lady Hornets took to the court Friday against the Lady Longhorns of Kimball. A little rust still showing, the Purple and Gold went down in defeat 45-53 but by Saturday’s contest against the Lusk Lady Tigers, the Lady Hornets were back in top form knocking off their opponent 50-30.
"We started the game like we just came off a two-week layoff," said Lady Hornets head coach Bob Cochran speaking of the match up with Kimball.
"Kimball jumped out to an 11-0 lead but I felt like the girls didn’t let that bother them," Cochran added.
Cochran noted his squad brought the contest to within two by the end of the half and opening the third quarter the Lady Hornets knotted the square.
"Kimball is a good shooting team and in the third quarter they hit some three to get back up," Cochran said.
"We didn’t get our three to fall and Kimball made some critical free throws down the stretch that ended up being the difference," he said.
Even with the break impacting the girls play, Cochran said he was overall pleased with the team’s first appearance back on the court.
"I felt the girls played very well," he said adding, "We rebounded well on both ends of the floor but I think our conditioning caught up with us in the last few minutes."
In the game against the Lady Longhorns, Senior Brittney Bowman lead the scoring with 15 points along with her four assists, five rebounds and two steals. One of several standout sophomores, Kodi Ragsdale found the hoop for 10 points along with her four rebounds. Cassidy Smith shot for eight points while nabbing three rebounds as senior Johnna Graves hit for six with five assists, and six rebounds. Conner Graves hit the fours notching each points and assists along with her five rebounds. Rounding out the scoring was Laura Gross who added two notches to her scoring belt while Brittny Steger finished the evening with an assist and six rebounds.
In the contest against the Lady Tigers, Cochran was pleased with the way his team bounced back.
"I felt that we came back from the Kimball game and showed the kind of character that is needed to be successful the rest of the season," Cochran said.
Taking the lead early in the first quarter, the Lady Hornets never looked back closing the half up 25-16 and finishing the game with the 50-30 win.
"I thought we got all of our game going in the third quarter," Cochran said. "We shot the ball well and our defense was active," he added.
Cochran did note that he’s still concerned with the amount of turnovers being committed especially with an upcoming contest against defending conference champion Southeast.
"Southeast plays very good defense. We will need to cut down our turnovers, continue to rebound and shoot well from the floor," Cochran said.
In Saturday’s Lusk match up, Bowman again lead the team with 14 buckets adding five rebounds and three steals to her totals. Johnna Graves was responsible for 12 of the Hornets’ points while nabbing seven rebounds, getting to the ball for four steals and two assists. Second half of the Graves Dynamic Duo, Conner hit for ten points along with her six steals, five assists and three rebounds. Gross found the hoop for six points as well as an assist and five rebounds while Smith too hit for six points, an assist, two steals and two rebounds. Capping the scoreboard was Ragsdale with two points, an assist, two steals and three rebounds. Brittny Steger nabbed the ball for three rebounds while Kayla Steger and Maria DeLaCruz grabbed a rebound each.
On Friday, the Lady Hornets travel to Grover to square off against the Pawnee Lady Coyotes and Saturday sees the squad back home to host the Southeast Lady Cyclones. Tipp off is slated 4:30 p.m. for both games.
