GHS girls hoops can’t hold lead in 44-40 loss to Vikings
SALINAS – The Lady Mustang hoopsters looked primed for their first league victory of the season, leading for three quarters in Friday’s road game against North Salinas.
But Gilroy (0-4 in T-CAL, 8-12 overall) could not keep it together, getting outscored 14-6 by the Lady Vikings in the fourth quarter en route to a disappointing 44-40 loss.
“It was another really tough loss. We led for most of the game,” head coach Kari Williams said. “Again, we didn’t execute our scoring in the last quarter.”
The Lady Mustangs led 14-6 after the first quarter and went into the halftime break ahead 27-16. North Salinas cut the spread to 34-30 by the end of the third and took over in the final quarter.
“Late in the game, we had trouble with their press. They were being very aggressive and there wasn’t a lot of fouls called,” said Williams, whose squad only took three free throws in the second half and finished a dismal 8-of-21 from the charity stripe. “The free throws now in a couple of close games have really hurt us early on.”
The Lady Vikings did not do any better from the free throw line, finishing only 5-of-18, but the hosts had enough to pull ahead late.
“It was a really tough and physical game,” Williams said. “Once again, we come out on the short side of the stick. It was a tough loss after the way we played in the first half.”
Junior Kendall Costa netted a team-high 13 points, while sophomore guard Marissa Nowakowski had a strong defensive game and tallied seven points.
“We’re young and we’re going to keep on working hard. We have six games left on our schedule,” said Williams, whose Lady Mustangs will head to Live Oak on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
