LHSS Girls Still Optimistic Despite Rough Hoops Stretch

After three straight matchups against top-ranked teams in the last five days, and four in the last 10, the competitive bottom finally fell out on the Lutheran South girls basketball team, in a Thursday night matchup against No. 5-ranked Westminster Christian Academy.

The Lancers, who lost a pair of competitive games against No. 9-ranked Lutheran St. Charles last Saturday, and No. 6-ranked Principia on Tuesday.

But on Thursday, South had virtually nothing left against Westminster, and the score unfortunately reflected that, with a 74-30 win for the Wildcats.

“It was kind of a rough night for us,” South girls basketball coach Benjamin Ealick said. “Our best shot to win was probably last Saturday. We controlled all but except for about four minutes of that game.

“But of course, our leading scorer and starting point guard (freshman Jessica Daube) went out with a concussion about halfway through that game. It’s been tough, but we’re hoping to have her back on Saturday.”  

And playing without Daube proved a difficult task on Thursday night, as Westminster employed its full-court pressure defense as its primary tactic, forcing South to use a number of players as ballhandlers that don’t normally fill that role.

The result was an ugly night on the stat sheet for the Lancers, who finished with 31 turnovers and only 34 shot attempts in the whole game.

Needless to say, it’s very difficult to win a game against any opponent when you turn the ball over that many times, but it’s especially daunting when that happens against an opponent that’s ranked No. 5 in the city.

“You know what’s great about these kids though, is they don’t get down,” Ealick said. “It’s like we’re a family. And in every family, when you go through a rough time, you don’t bow down and quit, you rally around each other, and come out stronger.

“That’s what I think this team is going to do. We’re going to respond like the true family we are.”

One reason for Ealick’s uplifting optimism was the play of reserve guards Jasmine Cawley and Lexi Lopez.

Cawley, a 5’5 junior, led the Lancers with eight points against Westminster, while JV team call-up Lopez added four points and some solid defensive play in her first extended varsity team action.

South, which is now 6-11 on the season, will finally get a break in its schedule this weekend, when it will be competing against other teams in the Affton Tournament that have similar record this season.

The tourney will begin on Saturday, with four games, all at Affton High School.

Lutheran South is scheduled to play in the final game of the day, against neighborhood rival Bayless, at 2:30 p.m.

The winner of that game will then advance to the semifinal round on Monday, where it would face either Fox or Clayton, with the winner of that game advancing to the championship game at 8 p.m. on Tuesday.

Lutheran South’s next home game is Thursday, February 2, when the Lancers will host Notre Dame at 6 p.m.