MARSHALL – The Crawfordsville Lady Athenians tipped off the second half of their season on Saturday as they traveled to take on the Parke Heritage Wolves. The Athenians scored the first ten points of the game, however a 30-13 second half for the Wolves allowed them to pick up a 44-37 win.
Crawfordsville (2-8) offense stalled in the third quarter scoring just a single point.
“That’s our third game this season of where just one bad quarter cost us the game,” coach Tyler Smith said. “We put a big emphasis on getting off to a good start, and we did, but we told them at halftime that they were probably going to make a run and that we just had to stay poised. It hurts because we had such a good chance to get back in the win column.”
The Athenians were able to find their way to the foul line, however they struggled mightily from the charity stripe going just 10-21.
“We hit some of them late, to make the number look a bit better,” Smith said. “I think even if we hit around 60 percent of them, we would’ve been in good shape to put the game away. When you’re playing a team of similar talent, there’s such a fine line to make those winning plays. We have to find a way to get over the hump.”
Hannah O’Brien scored 12 of her game-high 18 points in the third quarter. She (6’0) and Grace Ramsay (5’10) were able to get second and third opportunities for the Wolves with their offensive rebounding. Along with her 18 points, O’Brien grabbed ten rebound while Ramsay snagged 11.
“Going up against any size at all is a challenge for us,” Smith said. “She (O’Brien) had a few and-ones tonight. We’ve got to learn how to foul without allowing her to score. We have to work on boxing out better even if they do have that height advantage. This won’t be the last time we’re outsized so it’s just something we have to figure out.”
Olivia Reed led the Athenians in scoring with 15 points in the loss. The Athenians will travel to Sheridan on Tuesday night for a matchup with the 4-1 Blackhawks.