Conestoga 30, Springfield 29

It was a nailbitter for the Springfield girls’ basketball team on Tuesday afternoon.

After jumping on Conestoga early, the Lady Cougars couldn't execute key baskets down the stretch against ‘Stoga and fell 30-29.

Junior Alex Poplawski led Springfield with 10 points.

Having an early lead and giving it up late in the game has become a regular occurrence for Springfield.

“We’ve done that in just about every game,” said Springfield head coach Kimberly Smith. “We’ve had a lead in halftime or a lead into the fourth quarter and just cant finish the job right now. We just keep working the fundamentals and ride the ship at this point.”

‘Stoga gained the lead at halftime with a 17-15 edge.  At one point in the third quarter, the Pioneers lead by five, their biggest lead in the game.

“We got to do the simple things,” said Smith. “We are really struggling at the foul line right now.”

Poplawski tied the game at 28 with 4:28 left in the fourth quarter. The Lady Cougars showed they just weren’t going to back down.

“We know coming in here we were going to have a tough battle and a face a very good defensive team,” said Conestoga head coach John Jones.

Conestoga’s Maddy Tessier-Kay made a layup with a minute to go to give Conestoga the lead.

“They are a tough team,” said Tessier-Kay. “I expected a tight game.”

Poplawski had another chance to tie the, but couldn’t convert on two free throws.

“We hold a team like that to 30 points and we can’t win a game,” said Smith. “That’s a struggle.”

The loss dropped Springfield to 1-4 overall, and 0-3 in the Central League.

“I think we learned a lot about ourselves today,” said Smith. “We can play defense well enough to compete with anyone in this league. If you don’t make layups and free throws you can’t win games. It’s just that simple.”