Sports
Lady Tomcats Unable To Overcome Belpre’s Dominant Fourth Quarter
By: Taylor Stano
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The Trimble Lady Tomcats fell short again at home to the Belpre Golden Eagles by a final score of 53-38.
The game started off slow, as both teams struggled to score. Trimble’s own Emily McKee was the first to put points on the scoreboard by a free throw with 6:32 left in the first quarter. However, each team failed to reach double digits, as the first quarter ended with Belpre ahead 9-8.
Throughout the rest of the first half, Belpre’s offense moved the ball well within the 3-point line and connected on passes that created their scoring opportunities.
To begin the second quarter, Belpre started to attack from behind the 3-point arc, but struggled to sink the ball into the basket. Belpre only shot 4-of-27 from behind the 3-point arc.
Trimble was able to convert on the Golden Eagles’ struggles by driving to the basket and producing at the free throw line. The Tomcats went 13-21 from the charity stripe as a team and were lead by Nikki Kish who made 6 of her 8 free throws. The Tomcats were only down four points at the half, as Belpre led 24-20.
Trimble came out strong after halftime by scoring ten points, but struggled on the defensive end, as Belpre scored 16 points in the third quarter.
Belpre dominated the fourth quarter. The majority of the Tomcats’ 21 turnovers came in the final stanza. Trimble showed difficulty possessing the ball in order to push their team forward offensively. Trimble head coach Dave Richards knows what his team will practice in the next coming days.
“We got to get better rebounding and executing offensive,” said Richards.
Despite the loss, Richards believes his team played well overall against Belpre.
“We played three good quarters. (Belpre) won 16 games last year,” said Richards.
Trimble’s leading scorers were Morgan Murphy, Emily McKee and Trista Lackey, who each contributed 8 points for Trimble. Belpre’s Sierra Barker scored 14 points, making her the game’s leading scorer.
The Lady Tomcats will travel to returning TVC champion Eastern at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 5.