The Trojan girls bounced back from their 24-point loss to Shenandoah by taking on Kuemper Catholic on the road Monday night. Atlantic arrived in Carroll winless, while the opposition held a record of 2-5, containing conference wins against Clarinda and St. Albert.

The JV squads went at it first, and the Trojan crew suffered a loss by a 15-point margin, the largest they have had all season. Kuemper Catholic secured the win 43-28.

Following JV, varsity tipped off. The Trojans had the same starting lineup as Friday night against Shenandoah.

In the first quarter, the two teams exercised their offense. Kuemper Catholic was able to hit a few more buckets than Atlantic, and held the lead at the end of one 15-10. The Trojan defense stumbled in the second quarter and Kuemper positioned themselves firmly in the lead. At halftime, the Trojans trailed 28-13.

In the third quarter, Atlantic nearly matched the Knights’ scoring. Still, the Trojans had a lot of ground to make up, as they were behind 40-24 going into the fourth and final quarter.

Tougher defense and accurate shooting helped the Trojans outscore the Knights in the last eight minutes of the contest. Atlantic put up 24 points in the fourth quarter alone–just as many as they had earned all game. This run helped Atlantic come within striking distance of the lead. Ultimately, the Trojans ran out of real estate and were defeated 57-48.

Against Kuemper Catholic, junior Kenzie Waters netted 25 points. “My teammates are the ones to get me my points because of their passes,” she said.

As a team, Atlantic totaled 34 rebounds. Junior Corri Pelzer grabbed 10 rebounds for the Trojans, the majority of which were on the defensive side.

The group is hard at work in practice. They will spend time in the gym over winter break, in order to prepare for upcoming opponents in Denison-Schleswig and Harlan in early January. According to Waters, the Trojan girls have been “really working on our defense, because that is what we are really trying to improve on.” She commented they will also spend time practicing press breaks, as well as their own press.

Atlantic will get another shot at Kuemper Catholic on Tuesday, Jan. 15 at home in a conference challenge.