A second-half surge from Madison sunk the Trinity Lutheran girls basketball team Thursday night at the Bollinger Athletic Complex.
Outscoring the Cougars 37-24 in the final 16 minutes of play, the Cubs posted a 72-52 victory.
The Cougars had difficulty staying up with the Cubs’ offense and also struggled containing Madison’s Jade Nutley.
Nutley, the Cubs’ sophomore center, had a game-high 33 points.
Trinity coach Mike Lang said Nutley is an NCAA Division I prospect with a diverse set of skills on the court.
“She’s good,” he said. “When you get a player like that, she can get you inside and outside.”
Lang said the back court of Madison also gave the Cougars trouble in the second half.
“Madison sped us up, and they really have some fast guards,” he said. “We tried to get into transition with them, and we turned the ball over and led to them getting easy buckets.”
That was the story of the second half, Lang said.
The Cougars had 16 of their 24 turnovers in the second half.
In the opening quarter, Trinity jumped to a quick 6-2 lead, but then went quiet, allowing the Cubs to storm back to an 11-6 lead on a 7-0 run.
The Cougars were able to stabilize their offense with late baskets from Emma Schepman and Maddie Bell, and the first quarter came to an end with the Cubs ahead 13-10.
At that point, Trinity went scoreless for more than three minutes of the quarter. There were a few opportunities, but the Cougars had difficulty getting a good look with the Cubs’ defenders under the basket.
Each team used a full-court press, forcing multiple turnovers throughout the quarter.
The second quarter was a highly contested match with fast-paced baskets from each team throughout the period.
The Cubs outscored the Cougars 22-18 during the period.
Savannah Harweger had a strong second-quarter performance, scoring 11 points for the Cougars. She went 3-for-4 from the free throw line during the quarter.
Nutley led scoring for the Cubs with 11.
The turnovers were evenly matched at nine for the first half. The final one gave the Cubs their largest lead of the night at that point when Daesja Jay stole an inbound pass near the basket and scored on a jumper as time expired.
The Cubs led the Cougars 35-28 at the end of the half.
The game took a turn for the worse for the Cougars, as the Cubs’ offense exploded in the third quarter, outscoring Trinity 23-9.
The quarter started with a quick 3-pointer from Madison’s Paige Young. The Cougars answered back with a score from Harweger, and the two teams exchanged baskets.
“I thought after the first couple minutes, we played well,” Lang said. “When we were able to run our offense, we played well.”
The Cubs then took off on a 13-2 run to build a dominating 20-point lead at 55-35.
The Cougars did muster another basket from Bell before the quarter ended. Harweger led the Cougars through the period with four points. Sydney Jaynes scored three off of a basket and a free throw.
The Cougars showed more life at the beginning of the fourth quarter, as Jaynes scored two quick 3-pointers to open the period.
The Cubs answered back, going on an 8-0 run before Harweger scored seven straight points for the Cougars.
Lang said the team’s effort throughout the game was impressive, and they did not quit.
“I’m so proud of our girls with their effort for 32 minutes and how they didn’t stop,” he said. “We are better now than we were the other night.”
Trinity finished the regular season 15-9.
The Cougars face Crothersville in a Sectional 62 game on Tuesday at Edinburgh. The Cougars defeated the Tigers 62-47 on Nov. 17, but Lang acknowledged both teams are at a different point in the season.
Lang said he expects a tough game next week.
“Crothersville is going to be a big challenge, and I think we’re going to have to play with the effort we had tonight,” he said. “I think we’re going to have to get healthy and be strong and go out there and hit shots.”