Maidens suffer a couple of nail-biting losses
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WHITEFISH — The Maidens’ nails are a probably a little smaller after last week, but unfortunately their hands are empty. The Maidens battled down-to-the wire in a pair of games last week, but came away with nothing to show for it in both cases.
The Maidens took a narrow lead into the fourth quarter against Superior at home Tuesday, but went cold from the field when it mattered the most, only scoring four points in the final frame and falling to the Lady Bobcats 29-27. Thursday in Whitefish against the only team they have beaten this year, the Maidens couldn’t buy a basket and still had a chance to win late in the game, but their second Northwestern A victory continued to elude them and they left Whitefish with a 42-36 disheartening loss to the Lady Bulldogs.
Ronan coach Doug Fisher said as disappointing as it was to be so close to a victory and not win, he liked how his team fought until the end and he thinks his team will take away valuable lessons from the pair of losses.
“ ... It’s a little frustrating, there’s no doubt about it. We’re hungry and we’re working hard to get that win ... On the other hand, it’s nice to see them in a game and competing down the stretch,” Fisher said. “The girls are showing a better understanding of what we want them to do. They are growing as individuals and as a team.”
Charged by the play of Taylor Lynch in what Fisher called the best game of her career, the Maidens took a 23-21 lead over the Lady Bobcats into the final quarter, but watched three quarters of good work unravel because of turnovers and cold-shooting, two problems that have plagued the Maidens throughout the season.
“We just couldn’t knock down a shot at the end of the game, and then the turnover bug bit us again and we had a little trouble getting shots up,” Fisher said, describing the Maidens’ four-point conclusion.
The Maidens had 31 turnovers against the Class B Lady Bobcats.
Lynch finished with 10 points on 5 of 9 shooting.
“Taylor came off the bench and played what I felt was the best game of her career. She only had one turnover, she scored 10 points and had an outstanding game on defense,” Fisher said of the junior.
Jonna Grant finished with six points and 10 rebounds and Nina Orozco had four points and three assists.
Against Whitefish Thursday, Fisher said his team did everything right, except make baskets, and despite playing better than they did when they beat the Lady Bulldogs 42-32, they couldn’t get their second win of the season.
“I felt we outplayed them on both ends of the court and in transition. We outplayed them in every aspect of the game, except we couldn’t get our shots to fall,” Fisher said. “If we could’ve made our shots. I think we would have beat them by double figures, we just couldn’t get anything to fall down.”
The Maidens shot 25 percent from the field, connecting on only 16 of 53 shots. Fisher said at least six of those missing were wide-open shots within five feet of the basket, in what he described as one of the craziest shooting nights he had seen.
