Lady Eagles stumble in 2 conference losses
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PABLO — It was one step forward two steps back for the Lady Eagles last week.
One week after pushing the District 14-C’s third-place team to the limit in a 48-46 loss to Noxon and then riding a career night from Jaylen Carpentier to a 65-54 comeback victory over the Lady Prospectors, with their minds elsewhere and on more serious matters the Lady Eagles fell to Arlee 54-28 Tuesday and wilted under Charlo’s pressure man-to-man defense in a 61-28 loss Friday in their final home game of the season.
“Last week we played the two best games and it sounds like we played one of our worst games against Arlee and tonight, I can’t say because we didn’t have a ball handler,” Two Eagle River coach Mark Shackelford said, after watching his team be held to only two first-half points in the loss to Charlo.
With point guard Adele Frost sidelined with a shoulder injury, the Lady Eagles didn’t have a true ball handler and had no answer for the Lady Vikings’ in-your-face full-court press. In a half marred by turnovers, the Lady Eagles didn’t get many looks at the basket and the shots they did take, didn’t fall. The Lady Eagles went into the locker room at halftime trailing 29-2 and without a field goal – their two points came from free throws by Sam Ness, who finished with four points after hitting their first field goal of the game at the 7:33 mark in the third quarter.
“ (Without Frost) I don’t have a ball handler and we panicked. Charlo played excellent man defense ... and we went into panic mode,” Shackelford said.
Carpentier connected on 5 of 8 shots to lead Two Eagle with 11 points. In her final game on the Two Eagle court, she also pulled down five rebounds. Tashina Malatare pitched in with seven points.
Without their coach on the sideline and a funeral earlier in the day for one of their teammates’ family members, the Lady Eagles’ focus wasn’t on basketball and they quickly fell behind to Arlee in a 54-28 loss Tuesday. Carpentier finished with 13 points in the District 14-C loss and Frost pitched in with five.
“We were finally able to play four good quarters. The press didn’t bother us, we boxed out, we didn’t panic and we hit shots when we needed to,” Shackelford said of Two Eagle’s 48-46 narrow loss to Noxon Jan. 22.
In the two-point loss, the Lady Eagles were called for two technical fouls, Shackelford didn’t put one of his players on the scorer’s sheet and one of the players slammed the ball. “That could be six points right there,” Shackelford said.
