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First-half mistakes land Sexton girls 49-38 loss to Holt

 

Double digit first-half turnovers and a lengthy second-quarter scoring drought spelled doom for the winless Sexton girls basketball team Friday night in Holt.

The Rams turned a 12-9 first-quarter deficit into a 23-12 second-quarter advantage en route to a 49-38 Capital Area Activities Conference victory.

“We didn’t play Tuesday and tonight was kind of a blah, blah performance,” said Holt’s girls basketball coach Doug Harkema. “it was probably our worse game of the year. Our defense was good but we didn’t finish on the offense end.”

For the lady Big Reds, their offensive struggles continued, but despite that Sexton found a way to hang around, giving themselves a shot at victory in the final eight minutes.

A Cornesha Gund bucket with just under three minutes to play pulled the Big Reds to within seven at 43-36. Holt, however, finished the game on a 6-2 run.

“We had 11 first-quarter turnovers and 17 in the first half. Turnovers equal no shots. We struggle to make good shorts so we can’t afford to turn the ball over,” said Sexton coach Joe Wojda.

Holt led 12-9 after one quarter and extended its lead to seven at half-time, 23-16.

“I wish we would have played better, but I’m happy to get the victory,” explained  Harkema.

The win improved the Rams to 3-1 in the league and 5-4 overall.

The Big Reds used a jump-out trap at the start of the third quarter, pulling to within four at  25-21 (the closest they would get all night).

“The trap worked, but we were unable to reward ourselves enough at the other end. We created turnovers, got good shots but then didn’t score,” Wojda said. “These are great kids I’m coaching. They play hard and work hard. The girls have gotten much better since the start of the season. Tonight we committed too many early, silly turnovers.”

Sexton, with the loss, is now 0-8 overall and 0-4 in the league.