A pair of Class 2A powerhouses stopped Lyle/Pacelli and first-year head coach Craig Smith from getting the season off to a successful start. The L/P girls’ basketball team fell to 0-2 in the young season with losses to St. Ansgar and Janesville, both Iowa high schools, Friday and Saturday at a four-team tournament south of the border.

Host St. Ansgar got a 62-43 victory Friday night, while Janesville came back for a 68-48 decision.

Lyle/Pacelli (0-2) led by as many as nine points in the first half of its eventual loss to Janesville. Coach Smith said that his team’s hot-shooting start fizzled as the game got longer.

&uot;In the first half we found the holes and got everything going offensively,&uot; Smith said. &uot;We were hitting shots and getting through the transition. In the second half their defense forced a lot of turnovers and we threw a lot of balls right into their hands.&uot;

Lyle/Pacelli led 31-27 at the half.

Anna Hebrink paced L/P with 15 points in her second career varsity game. Kate Boisjolie tossed in 12 and Louise Mudra chipped in 11.

Mudra’s 17 points led Lyle/Pacelli in Friday’s 62-43 loss to St. Ansgar. The Saints got a game-high 22 points from Amber Cimmiyotii.

&uot;For our first game we played very well against St. Ansgar, who is a ranked team,&uot; Coach Smith said.

Hebrink helped Mudra's scoring with nine points and Kristina Hollerud threw in the team’s only three-pointer en route to six points.

L/P opens Southeast Conference play Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. at Glenville-Emmons, which also suffered a pair of defeats at the St. Ansgar tournament. G-E lost 55-42 to St. Ansgar and 57-47 to Janesville.