Poor Shooting Curses Chargers Against Rivals

Varsity Girls Basketball Playoffs: Courtland Cougars vs. Chancellor Chargers

By: Greg Wolfe

The ball never really seemed to fall the Chancellor Chargers way Friday night, as they opened up the Conference 19 playoffs at home against the Courtland Cougars. The Cougars rode a huge performance by Kiara Mccullough who collected 16 points, making up for the team's 22 turnovers and 19 fouls in an upset 61-50 win.

Early on, the Chargers had to ride a big performance by Bianca Atkinson, who found success inside the arc, in order to keep them in the game. Foul trouble and turnovers hurt them early, with 6 fouls in the first quarter alone that gave the Cougars multiple opportunities.

The Cougars would ride off Gabby Michalick's hot start in the first quarter, to keep things neck and neck. Her plentiful offensive rebounds were what kept Cougar offensive possessions alive, and ultimately was a big presence under the net to prevent scoring by the Chargers.

The game would stay in the Chargers hands for the majority of the first half, as the Cougars continued to scratch at the lead but the Chargers would manage to answer back. Mccullough had 8 of her 16 points in the first half, despite foul trouble keeping her off the court for some minutes.

At halftime the Chargers had a tight 27-25 lead, as defense definitely rained supreme in the game. The two teams combined for 21 points at the free throw line, which made up the majority of their offenses. Kelsey Jones was especially on point for the Cougars, as she would finish the night later on going 10/12 at the line.

The third quarter mimicked the first half, in that the Cougars were never really able to get that lead. Taylor Collins kept some consistency for the Chargers, with 2 rebounds and 4 points in the third quarter that were breaths of fresh air for the Chargers offense.

The Cougars' Alana Tilden responded in her own way, going 4/5 with all of her eight points in that quarter and also the entire team's made field goals that quarter came from her hands.

In the fourth quarter though, Mccullough came alive for her 8 second half points, that boosted the Cougars over the Chargers finally. Jasmine Talley also hit the Chargers' first successful three of the night in the quarter, but it was quickly drowned.

All in all, the shooting just never really clicked for the Chargers. Nobody seemed to take the pace, and the Cougars made sure to take advantage of that and make every shot count. It was a disappointing loss to end the Lady Chargers' season, but they'll be back next year.

Thank you for all the great games this year! 

Stat Section

Chancellor Chargers

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Courtland Cougars

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