GHV girls suffer an off-night

Some nights are just not your night.  The Garner-Hayfield-Ventura girls (7-9, 9-12) had one of those nights Friday night when they traveled to North Union (14-1, 18-1).

“I could say it was the long bus ride, we had girls battling the flu, or we were just playing a very good team, but those would simply be excuses as to why we were outplayed,” said Coach Matt Erpelding.

Turnovers were the downfall of the Cardinal girls, as 28-points were scored by North Union on GHV mistakes in the 72-25 trouncing.

GHV hung tight in the beginning of the game, but the Warriors slowly started to build their lead in the first quarter, 22-10.

The second quarter is when North Union clipped the Cardinals’ wings.  The Warriors held GHV to just eight points, while they scored 20-points for a 42-18 halftime lead.

The second half was just as bad for the Cardinals.  North Union held GHV to just seven points in the second half, all scored in the third quarter.  The Warriors scored 30-points in the second half for the 72-25 victory.

“We executed our press break extremely bad, which allowed them to score numerous easy baskets and made us rush our offense,” said Erpelding.  “We were never composed offensively in the half court.  For whatever reason, we just simply came unraveled and couldn’t get regrouped.  We are a much better team than we showed in this game.”

Jayden Frank had one of her best nights of the season, recording a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.  She also had three assists and one steal.

Also scoring was Morgan Ryerson with six-points, Mara Anderson added four, Kelsey Watson had three and Jade Hanson scored two points.

Sadie Oulman grabbed four rebounds, while Ryerson, Jade Hanson and Maddie Williams all had three rebounds.

Ryerson had two steals, while Jillian Heitland and Oulman both had one steal apiece.

Williams had two blocked shots and Jade Hanson had one block.

The road to State begins on Saturday, Feb. 10, when the Cardinals travel to Clear Lake (18-2) to face the Lions in a 7 p.m. game.

“I know we have a very real opportunity to do something special in tournament play,” said Erpelding.