By Cooper Zablocki

Last night the Atlantic Trojan girls basketball team lost to the Red Oak Tigers with a final score of 65 to 53.  The Tigers kept the lead all through the game, but both teams proved to be tough offensively in this high scoring shoot-out.  Head Coach Casey Pelzer thought his team “played good offensively,” but it’s tough to beat teams that score 63 points.

At the start of the game, it seemed like both teams lacked any defense.  But neither team lacked the offensive power.  Kathryn Walker for Red Oak had two 3-pointers just in the first quarter.  Sophomore Erin Olsen for Atlantic also found her rhythm beyond the three point line.  Atlantic reached a slump towards the end of the first that carried on halfway through the second quarter.  Missing lay-ups and field goals, the Trojan girls started to fall behind the offensively talented Tigers.

During the second quarter, Atlantic was still struggling to get the ball in the hoop.  Fortunately for the Trojans, Olsen hit a 3-pointer with 3:00 minutes in the second quarter, Atlantic’s first points since the first quarter.  The next possession for Atlantic ended with another trey by Olsen, closing the gap to 9 points, and also ending the drought for the Trojans.  Going into halftime Red Oak led by 11 points, 34 to 23.

Pelzer said they were playing a different team, whose game plan was to give the ball to Walker.  He was right.  She had 18 points in the first half alone, and ended with 28, Atlantic couldn’t stop her.  For the Trojans, the key player was Olsen, a beast from the 3-point line.  She had a couple of 3’s in the third as well.  Atlantic shot the ball great in the third, and so did Red Oak.  Atlantic players like Catherine Leonard and Tiffany Williams came up big, able to get the ball down low and convert.  The score after the third was 48 to 37, Tigers.

The entire second half found Atlantic in foul trouble, with ten fouls for the girls in the third and fourth quarters, compared to only 11 fouls the whole game for Red Oak.  Clearly, fouls were an issue for the Trojans.  In fact, Williams fouled out in the fourth, with an intentional called against her.  Towards the end of the game, Atlantic could not shorten that 10, 11, 12 point lead the Tigers created in the second quarter.

The Trojans played a different team this go around and they played a different game too, a much better game.  Losing to Red Oak by 17 their game.  In the first showdown Red Oak was up by 12 at halftime, and didn’t let up the rest of the game.  Quite similar to this game, the Tigers went into halftime with a lead of 11 points and finished the game with a lead of 11.  Last game, Olsen ended with 17 points and Leonard with 8.

Pelzer said his team had a good week of practice and they have to stay focused for the rest of this “two week season.”

The girls will play Harlan at home this Tuesday, Feb. 4.