The Seymour girls were forced to play the final three quarters of Saturday afternoon’s home game against Madison without starters Grace Schrader and Brooke Trinkle.
Trinkle watched the game in street clothes, while Schrader helped the Owls get off to a good start in the first period before her back stiffened up and she was unable to play the last three quarters.
Madison took advantage to outscore the Owls 40-15 over the final three periods for a 47-33 win in the Lloyd E. Scott Gymnasium.
“We started the game without Brooke, so you’re already down one offensive player, and then Grace goes out with an injury,” head coach Jason Longmeier said. “At that point in time, she was done. You take two players that are so important to our offense out, and that’s what you see. We had 16 points in the first quarter, and we finished the game with 33. We were just not able to generate points with those two out of the game.”
With Greer Henry and Schrader scoring four points each and Journee Brown scoring on a move to the basket, the Owls were able to jump on top 10-0 at the 3:52 mark of the opening quarter.
Schrader scored seven points and Henry added six in the first period to spark the Owls to an 18-7 lead.
Then Seymour’s offense turned as cold as the weather outside in the second quarter as they shot 1-for-6 from the floor, and coupled with 10 turnovers during that 8-minute span, they were outscored 16-3 and trailed 23-21 at the half.
Seymour’s only points came on a 3-pointer by Eliza Cash at the 6:10 mark that put the Owls on top 21-10.
In the third period, Brown added two baskets and Henry scored a basket and two free throws as the Owls managed to keep it close and trailed 37-33 entering the fourth period.
“We got some flow going in the third quarter,” Longmeier said. “Then in the fourth quarter, I don’t know if it was some youth and some fatigue or a combination of both where we had some big time defensive lapses that allowed them to get some easy buckets. We were just too offensively hamstrung at that point and let the game get away from us.”
Seymour shot 0-for-7 and had four turnovers in the fourth period when they were outscored 10-0.
With Schrader and Trinkle out of the lineup, Cash, Kendrick Sterling, Kaylee Waskom and Abby Followell saw more playing time than they had in previous games, and they combined for five points and nine rebounds.
“Now, we’ve got to figure out what Grace’s situation is,” Longmeier said. “We’re going to need those girls. We’ve got to find a way that we get healthy and we get ready to compete.”
Henry topped the Owls in scoring with 10 points, and Kendall Sterling was the high rebounder with eight as Seymour held a 26-20 advantage in that department.
Cameron Cahill topped the Cubs (6-5) with 19 points, and Casey Dyer scored 13.
Madison made 16 of 19 free throws and the Owls made 6 of 7.
Seymour (5-5) will try to end a three-game losing streak Tuesday night at Columbus North.
Followell and Kenzie Gagner scored 13 points each and Elizabeth Kirby scored 10 to help the junior varsity improve to 8-2 with a 54-30 win. All three of those girls are freshmen.