Another tough one

The HSRC Patriots (official name) traveled to Sugar Grove to take on the Crossroads Crusaders, a team from an established homeschool sports program. And once again, the opponent's superior skill and experience were too much for the Patriots, who fell 48-20.

The game opened up with the Crusaders winning the tap and driving in for a fastbreak layup, which set the pattern for the whole quarter. Up and down the court they ran. Our girls seemed to get flustered easily, letting Crossroads tie them up often, and giving up the ball. The Patriots only got up four shots, all of which they missed, and at the end of one it was 20-0.

Crossroads brought in some subs for the second quarter, our girls settled down a little, and the second quarter was much better. Kara hit a couple of shots and Rachel posted up for another. The defense was better, as Crossroads shot 3 for 14 in the second quarter after shooting 10 for 18 in the first. Scoring was even in the quarter, 6-6, and the half ended 26-6.

Crossroads brought their starters back to begin the second half, and it showed in the third quarter scoring. Crossroads outscored the Patriots 17-4 in the quarter and the score at the end of three was 43-10.

In the fourth the girls got much more aggressive. Alyssa made some outside shots including a three, Becca made an inside one, and Kara hit on a free throw as well as making a score off of a drive. The scoring in the quarter was 10-5 in favor of the Patriots, for a final of 48-20.

Leading scorers were Alyssa and Kara with seven each, followed by Rachel with four and Becca with two. Leading rebounder was Becca with eleven; Rachel had five. Kara had three steals to lead the team while Becca had two. Rachel again led the team with three blocks. Shooting was 9 for 30, or 30%, quite an improvement from opening night's 18%. On the negative side, Alyssa had seven turnovers and Kara had four.

Tomorrow night's game is against Christian Liberty's JV team at 5:00 PM at their gym in Arlington Heights. See you there.

Oh and by the way, the schedule for the season is at the bottom of the page.