A lucky No. 7 wasn’t in the cards for Trinity Lutheran’s girls basketball team.
Oldenburg Academy snapped as six-game winning streak by the Cougars Saturday, posting a 43-39 win at the Bollinger Athletic Complex.
Just three different players recorded points for the Cougars on the evening, as Trinity struggled to get the ball through the hoop.
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There were nine total lead changes in the first half, including five in the second quarter.
In the opening quarter, the Cougars (7-3) took an early 5-2 lead on three points by Sydney Jaynes and a basket from Savannah Harweger.
Hannah Sabotin and Jaynes each got shots to go, but scores from Alex Bamonte and Gigi Dryer in the final minute put the Twisters (7-6) up 10-9 at the end of the first quarter.
Cougars coach Mike Lang knew the Cougars were in trouble from the start.
“I told Rob (Sipe, assistant coach) four minutes into the game that we were in trouble because of the energy level we were playing with,” Lang said. “We pleaded and pleaded that we needed to play with more energy, but I guess they wanted to play at their own pace tonight and not the pace it took to win. We missed block-outs and hung our heads on missed shots. We have to believe the next shot goes in.”
The Cougars were able to space themselves from the Twisters with an and-one conversion by Jaynes, with 2:49 left in the half, but the visitors finished the second quarter with a 7-0 run to lead 20-18.
Jaynes accounted for 12 of the Cougars’ 18 first-half points. She had seven in the second quarter.
The Cougars stayed within two the entire third quarter, but would never take the lead.
Going into the fourth quarter, they trailed 31-28 after Harweger hit a buzzer-beater.
The Twisters built the lead to 39-31 in the fourth quarter before Jaynes got the Cougars back in the game.
Jaynes scored eight straight points for the Cougars, in a minute, pulling the score within two at 41-39 with 42 seconds left.
Two made free throws by Hanna Hurm sealed it for the Twisters with 23 ticks on the clock.
Jaynes led the Cougars with 22 points, Sabotin scored 10 and Harweger had six.
Katie Kinker topped topped the Twisters with 15 points.
Lang was disappointed in the team’s focus.
“You gotta hate losing more than you like winning. That was my message to them,” Lang said. “You can’t allow a team to come to your home court and out-hustle you. We got out-hustled, plain and simple. We didn’t have the heart or desire. There were too many things that were on our mind tonight other than a basketball game, and as far as I’m concerned, at 12:15, 6 and 7:30 we have basketball to play. Our minds weren’t here.”
Trinity will travel to Christian Academy of Indiana (New Albany) Thursday.