Girls basketball: Young Cards are playing catch-up
Published 10:29 pm Monday, December 4, 2017
- LeRoy-Ostrander’s Tiana Plagman, left, and Haley Hungerholt, right, double team Houston’s Jessica Kitching in LeRoy Monday. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
LEROY — The LeRoy-Ostrander girls basketball team is battling a lot of inexperience and a big lack of depth as it has looked to find some room to grow early on in this season.
The Cardinals were able to get a freshman post player some confidence in a 66-32 loss to Houston in LeRoy Monday night.
Freshman center Kelly Hanson had 15 points and 13 rebounds for LO (0-3 overall, 0-3 SEC), which has no seniors, one junior and only two sophomores on its roster.
LeRoy-Ostrander’s Emily Hofner, right, battles for a loose ball with Houston’s Becca Rostad in LeRoy Monday night. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
“She’s only a freshman, but she has some good habits. She keeps the ball up high and she goes up strong,” said LO head coach Aaron Hungerholt. “We’re so young right now and we don’t have numbers. We play hard and then we get in foul trouble. If we don’t fly around and try and do things this year, it’s going to be a struggle. We’ve just got to work on getting better and keep battling.”
LO had just six players on its roster last week, but it was able to bring up some middle schoolers to fill up the bench on Monday. LO junior Haley Hungerholt, who had 14 points, five rebounds and six steals against Houston, has now found herself acting as a coach on the court as much as a point guard.
LeRoy-Ostrander’s Haley Hungerholt dribbles through a double team against Houston in LeRoy Monday. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
“We’re young. We’ll get better. It’s a rough start, but we’ll get better. I’m trying to help the girls to know where to go and I’m trying to be a captain for them,” Haley said. “Our best bet is to be fast and get down the court. We have to be conditioned to play a full game”
The Hurricanes (2-1 overall, 2-1 SEC) led just 14-8 early on, but they scored 10 straight points to go up 24-8 as their defensive pressure created a lot of transition opportunities.
While their situation is far from ideal, Aaron wants his team to continue playing hard and hustling like it did in Monday’s loss.
“Everybody’s going to have to help everybody this year. It’s going to be tough,” he said. “We’ve got to take care of the ball and we have to play better defense.”
LeRoy-Ostrander’s Tiana Plagman controls the ball against Houston in LeRoy Monday. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Houston 40 26 — 66
LO 17 15 — 32
LO scoring: Kelly Hanson, 15; Haley Hungerholt, 14; Sam Bolkart, 3; free throws: 33 percent (7-for-21); rebounds: 28 (Hanson, 13); turnovers: 25
LeRoy-Ostrander’s Sam Bolkart looks to pass against Houston in Leroy Monday. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
