Ryan Leger—HENDERSON DAILY TIMES
The Kerr-Vance Academy girls’ basketball team hosted Grace Christian (Sanford) Tuesday evening, losing to the visiting Crusaders (4-3) for the second time this season by a score of 39-26.
The Lady Spartans (2-3) performed much better in the second contest against Grace Christian, but the Crusaders led the entire game and were able to pull away in the fourth quarter to earn the victory. Spartans’ coach Sandy Ross only has nine girls on her roster, so foul trouble and fatigue are always pressing issues for Ross. However, the last few games Kerr-Vance has had as few as six players suit up due to an illness that was going around, so Ross considered herself lucky to have a “full” roster of nine girls.
“We have had a lot of illnesses going around over the last couple of weeks and today was the first time we have had a full team all season,” Ross said.
The Spartans only trailed 16-12 heading into the locker room at halftime, despite turning the ball over 16 times in the first half. Macy Lee Johnson (12 points, 11 rebounds, 2 steals) tallied six points and seven rebounds in the first half to keep Kerr-Vance in the game.
“The girls get all razzled sometimes to star t games and that is when they commit a lot of turnovers, which is really what hurts us,” Ross said. “Our main problem this year is we panic and it usually takes us until halftime to settle down a bit. I just told the girls to calm down at halftime and start working harder on offense.”
Ker r-Vance played better in the thir d quarter, with Kennedy Adcock (7 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals) connecting from long range to cut the Crusaders’ lead to a point with just 31 seconds remaining, but that was the closest the Spar tans would get. Unfor tuna tely, the Cr usdaers’ drained their own three-pointer at the buzzer to extend their lead to 25-21 and started the fourth quarter on fire, going on a 7-0 run to extend their advantage to 32-21 with 3:33 left in regulation.
“They were hitting their three-pointers and we just weren’t going out and stopping it on defense,” Ross said. “I told the girls not to go out there until they star ted to hit their three-pointers because we needed as many players as possible down low to get rebounds, but once they star ted making them we still weren’t covering them and that made the dif ference. We just got tired and began to watch the ball drop instead of fighting to get into position to get a rebound. We work on rebounding every day in practice, but sometimes they just get tired and watch, especially towards the end of the game. It just comes down to a lack of focus and you cannot win games when you turn the ball over as many times as we have been lately.”
The Spartans turned the ball over 26 times on the night, which made it nearly impossible to earn a victory. The lack of depth also causes the girls to become fatigued, especially in the second half of contests, and it has been tough to close out games strong. In addition, Ker r-Vance was heavily out-rebounded by the Cr usader s , which has been a common theme this year considering the Spartans’ lack of height.
Sophie Naradzy (2 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks), Bonnie Evans (5 points, 2 assists, 7 steals, 4 blocks), and Kaylee Stevenson (3 rebounds) also played well for the Spartans as the very young squad continues to improve.
The Lady Spar tans will be back in action Friday night when they host undefeated Halifax Academy, the game tips off at 5:30 p.m
The Kerr-Vance Academy girls’ basketball team hosted Grace Christian (Sanford) Tuesday evening, losing to the visiting Crusaders (4-3) for the second time this season by a score of 39-26.
The Lady Spartans (2-3) performed much better in the second contest against Grace Christian, but the Crusaders led the entire game and were able to pull away in the fourth quarter to earn the victory. Spartans’ coach Sandy Ross only has nine girls on her roster, so foul trouble and fatigue are always pressing issues for Ross. However, the last few games Kerr-Vance has had as few as six players suit up due to an illness that was going around, so Ross considered herself lucky to have a “full” roster of nine girls.
“We have had a lot of illnesses going around over the last couple of weeks and today was the first time we have had a full team all season,” Ross said.
The Spartans only trailed 16-12 heading into the locker room at halftime, despite turning the ball over 16 times in the first half. Macy Lee Johnson (12 points, 11 rebounds, 2 steals) tallied six points and seven rebounds in the first half to keep Kerr-Vance in the game.
“The girls get all razzled sometimes to star t games and that is when they commit a lot of turnovers, which is really what hurts us,” Ross said. “Our main problem this year is we panic and it usually takes us until halftime to settle down a bit. I just told the girls to calm down at halftime and start working harder on offense.”
Ker r-Vance played better in the thir d quarter, with Kennedy Adcock (7 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals) connecting from long range to cut the Crusaders’ lead to a point with just 31 seconds remaining, but that was the closest the Spar tans would get. Unfor tuna tely, the Cr usdaers’ drained their own three-pointer at the buzzer to extend their lead to 25-21 and started the fourth quarter on fire, going on a 7-0 run to extend their advantage to 32-21 with 3:33 left in regulation.
“They were hitting their three-pointers and we just weren’t going out and stopping it on defense,” Ross said. “I told the girls not to go out there until they star ted to hit their three-pointers because we needed as many players as possible down low to get rebounds, but once they star ted making them we still weren’t covering them and that made the dif ference. We just got tired and began to watch the ball drop instead of fighting to get into position to get a rebound. We work on rebounding every day in practice, but sometimes they just get tired and watch, especially towards the end of the game. It just comes down to a lack of focus and you cannot win games when you turn the ball over as many times as we have been lately.”
The Spartans turned the ball over 26 times on the night, which made it nearly impossible to earn a victory. The lack of depth also causes the girls to become fatigued, especially in the second half of contests, and it has been tough to close out games strong. In addition, Ker r-Vance was heavily out-rebounded by the Cr usader s , which has been a common theme this year considering the Spartans’ lack of height.
Sophie Naradzy (2 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks), Bonnie Evans (5 points, 2 assists, 7 steals, 4 blocks), and Kaylee Stevenson (3 rebounds) also played well for the Spartans as the very young squad continues to improve.
The Lady Spar tans will be back in action Friday night when they host undefeated Halifax Academy, the game tips off at 5:30 p.m
