Sports
Trimble Falls to Southern in Second Half Collapse
By: Alex Harrison, Andrew Hines
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Trimble entered Thursday’s game seeking revenge for a two point loss in game played against Southern in December. However, a second half collapse doomed the Tomcats to a 34-26 loss.
Trimble led 14-11 at halftime, but the lead dwindled to a 19-19 tie at the end of the third quarter. Trimble started to have a breakdown, losing energy, turning over the ball and letting the size difference come into play.
It also didn’t help that Trimble’s Nikki Kish was essentially absent during the game. Kish, a key player, often passed away open shots and missed minutes with a rolled ankle didn’t help. Kish did have seven rebounds, but scored her only two points with 2:08 left in the game.
“She’s our go-to player… She had some opportunities we didn’t take advantage of and then I think she rolled her ankle about midway through the third quarter and she wasn’t the same,” said Coach Joe Richards.
Southern’s size was found in Faith Teaford and when her play rose, the Tornadoes rose with her. Teaford did not have a single point in the first half, but had 10 to finish the game. Teaford also had six rebounds in the second half, totaling 11. Teaford usually matched against Kish and took advantage of her apprehension.
The Tornadoes had 28 turnovers in the game, but Trimble couldn’t convert. In the end, the length of the Tornadoes gave them the win.
“I think it has something to do with their length. They play just as good defense as we do and their length… we don’t have length,” Richards explained. “We drove with our speed and their length I think gets to us a little bit.”
Coach Richards also mentioned he apologized to his team after the game. The girls were fatigued and Coach Richards felt he could have used more bench players during the game.
Trimble (9-8) will look to rebound over a winless Wahama team on Jan. 23 before a matchup with Belpre on Jan. 25.