A 12-0 run to open each half lifted the Trinity Lutheran girls basketball team to a 56-29 win against Christian Academy of Indiana on Thursday night in the Bollinger Athletic Complex.
Trinity coach Mike Lang said his team did a good job of moving the ball at the start of the game but couldn’t get its shots to drop, otherwise the Cougars could have had more than a 12-2 lead at the end of the first quarter.
“We had a lot of good looks in the first half, but it just wasn’t going in,” he said. “We talked about slowing our shots down and being a little bit more patient.”
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The Cougars’ game plan early was to work the ball into Abby Hackman and Sydney Jaynes. Jaynes had three baskets and two free throws, while Hackman had one basket and pulled down five rebounds in the first quarter.
The Warriors, meanwhile, had trouble hanging on to the ball, committing 11 turnovers in the first quarter and shooting 1-for-6 from the floor.
Alli Stumler made the Warriors’ first field goal with 1:05 left in the first quarter.
The Cougars continued to pound the ball into Hackman and Jaynes in the second quarter, as both girls scored two baskets to help Trinity to a 23-13 lead at the half.
Christian Academy hit another cold spell at the start of the third quarter, resulting in the Cougars opening up a 35-13 lead.
Piper Acton had two baskets during the rally, Hackman had a basket and two free throws and Savannah Harweger and Jaynes each had a bucket.
“In the second half, we started doing things a little bit different,” Lang said. “We started setting Sydney and Abby down at the point and let Abby come out and set a high ball screen and worked pick and rolls, and that really put them at a disadvantage and really isolated Abby in the post.”
Trinity (12-1) was on top 39-18 going into the fourth quarter.
Lang credited the defense with another strong effort, as the Warriors made only 12 of 48 shots from the floor.
“It starts at the defensive end,” he said. “We were going to be keying in on Alli Stumler. We tried to get our defense to create offense, and I thought it did.”
Hackman scored 19 points and had 12 rebounds, and Jaynes finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
“Every player that stepped on the floor tonight contributed one way or another, whether it was offensively or defensively,” Lang said. “I’m proud of the fact how hard we hustled and played for 32 minutes.”
The Warriors (4-7) were led in scoring by Stumler with 16 points, and she had 14 rebounds.
The Cougars, ranked No. 5 in the state in Class A this week and winners of 10 straight, will play in the Toby Yoho Classic on Dec. 29 and 30 at Eastern Greene.