GIRLS BASKETBALL: Cougars Struggle Offensively, Fall to Falcons

The Chesapeake Cougars struggled to maintain control of the ball, and committed too many turnovers as they fell to the Severna Park Falcons 45-26 Tuesday night in Pasadena.

The Cougars (1-14) turned the ball over eight times in the first quarter allowing the Falcons to jump out to a 12-6 lead at the end of the first eight minutes of play. Chesapeake was never able to establish a dominant guard performance, which hurt them the entire night.

“Our biggest weakness is our ball handling,” Cougar coach Melanie Herget said. “Turnovers are our main concern right now. Every day we try to take care of the ball—it is just a work in progress. In practice, we preach three things: turnovers, boxing out and rebounding, and tonight those weaknesses showed.”

Despite the struggles with ball control, the Cougars were effective when they were able to get the ball inside. Forwards Brianna Zajac and Madison Trosi led the team with eight, and nine points, respectively.

“Our big girls score when we get the ball into them,” Herget said. “When our guards struggle with the ball on the outside we can’t really get it into the centers. When we did get it inside, we did score so that was good.”

The Cougars have now lost seven in a row, with their only win coming against Northeast on Jan. 6. Chesapeake will take on North County on Friday.