Hoeft, Miller out of line-up in 46-40 loss to North County
GILROY – For the second straight game to start their season, the Lady Mustang hoopsters were without their star center, senior Sarah Hoeft, who is late to return from her vacation.
And putting even more pressure on the younger players was the absence of senior guard Sarah Miller – who came down with the flu and did not dress for Thursday’s first-round game against North County in the Lady Mustang Classic.
The depth of the Gilroy bench was tested and, despite some encouraging play from the underclassmen, the Lady Mustangs could not complete a late fourth-quarter run, suffering a 46-40 loss.
“I can’t take away the kind of game that I thought my young players played. I thought they did a good job,” head coach Kari Williams said. “Again, we made some young mistakes tonight. Right now, we’re just kinda in search of our leader. Our two captains are out of the game and so we’re trying to figure out who is going to take over when their not there.”
After falling behind by 15 points one minute into the final quarter, the young Lady Mustangs regrouped and went on a 13-4 run to cut the gap to four. Sophomore Marissa Nowakowski (team-high 12 points) drained a long-range jumper with 1:05 left to make it 46-40, but Gilroy failed to score the rest of the game.
“She’s our leading scorer and yes I expect her to score 10 and 12 points. She had 12 points tonight. She’s our leading scorer again. But we just didn’t get it done,” Williams said. “We missed a lot of shots. If we would have made one shot every quarter, it’s a different game.”
Junior guard Shante Mancera supplied some shooting touch off the bench – draining a long-range bucket and layup in the fourth quarter.
“At the end, (Mancera) came in and did a great job,” Williams said. “She’s kind of a role player for us and I think that she brings a little excitement to the court when she’s in there. I was happy with the things I saw her do.”
But the Lady Mustang shooters could not find their zone – missing jumpers in the paint and then several putback attempts in the closing minute and throughout the game.
“Antoinette Okere, she played well, but she couldn’t make her shots. She didn’t make her shots under the basket when she was getting the rebounds, putting it back up, getting the rebound, putting it back up again,” Williams said. “I don’t know what our stats are, but I’m going to guess they’re going to have to be something like they were last week.”
Gilroy – which will face Gunderson in the loser’s bracket Friday at 5 p.m. at the high school – shot a woeful 18-of-66 in last week’s opening 57-47 road loss to Andrew Hill and struggled again without Hoeft and Miller, this time.
“We shoot 50, 60 times and we make 15 of them. That’s not going to get you very many games. When you score 40 points, I don’t know many teams you are going to beat,” Williams said. “These have been two tough losses.”
The Mustangs never had the lead in their latest lost – falling behind 7-0 in the first quarter by not hitting their first shot until sophomore Catherine Hussey checked in and drained a jumper more than four minutes in. Hussey’s hustle sparked a Gilroy run that cut the gap to two at the end of the first, but North County extended to a five-point lead at the half.
“Catherine came off the bench and did a great job,” Williams said. “That’s what we expect – Catherine to come off the bench, sixth man, and take care of business out there. She really did do a good job for us.”
After a Nowakowski lay-in trimmed the spread to three to open the second half, North County turned it on – stretching out to an 11-point advantage at the end of the third quarter.
Neither Hoeft nor Miller are expected to play in the Lady Mustangs’ next game, giving the younger hoopsters even more time on the court.
“This is going to give them a lot of experience. Obviously, that’s two people who would be on the court a lot that aren’t,” Williams said. “That’s giving some of the other players a lot of time to be out on the court. It’s tough.”
