In theory the object of the sport is one quintet putting a synthetic sphere through a modern-day incarnation of a peach basket more times than another five-person grouping during a specific time period — usually 32, 40 or 48 minutes depending on the age or skill level of the practitioners. And thusly we have — in a sense — defined the primary problem attacking the Georgetown Lady Eagles during the first seven games of the young season. In the vernacular, coach Rhonda Farney’s team ain’t putting the ball through the hoop with the desired regularity –be it layup or jump shot, long- or short-range.
Take for example Tuesday night’s 55-40 loss to District 13-6A favorite Vista Ridge at Eagle Gym. The Lady Eagles only found the range on 12 of their 47 shots (25.5 percent) from the floor — 9 of 34 from inside the arc and three of 13 from downtown as cliche-ridden melodramatic announcers croon. Georgetown’s core returnees managed a combined six successes in 30 attempts. The Rangers put in 22 of their 55 shots (40 percent). Let’s extend this discussion to all four of Georgetown’s losses — Round Rock Cedar Ridge (44-38), Waco Midway (52-28) and Fort Worth Haltom (42-37). In the four defeats, GHS has put up 149 shots, making 45 (30.6 percent). That breaks down to 35 of 106 (33 percent) on two-pointers and 10 of 43 (23.3 percent) on treys. In their three wins, the Lady Eagles have shot a combined 63 of 138 (45.6). In a statistical oddity, they have made 21 field goals in each of their victories.
“When we played Midway we didn’t take enough shots to be successful,” Farney said after the loss to Vista Ridge (6-2,) which dropped GHS to 3-4. Yesterday (Monday) we had our best practice and today we got our shots, but they didn’t go down. All the other stats were comparable. It wasn’t a matter of rebounds or turnovers. “We can check off most of the boxes, but we need to improve our offensive execution and start scoring. We’ve got people in the right spots. I’ve just got to do a better job of coaching.” After the loss to Vista Ridge, the Eagles will take the remainder of the week off and then play three games next week. They will play host to Victoria East, which is coached by former University of Texas great Yolanda Wimbish-North, at 1:30 p.m. Monday, travel to Lorena for a 12:30 p.m. bout on Tuesday and will return to Eagle Gym Saturday for a 1:30 p.m. battle with Vandegrift. In Tuesday’s battle with Vista Ridge, the Rangers were led by two of the area’s top-rated individuals — 6-foot-1 junior A.J. Marotte, who finished with 17 points, 13 rebounds and two blocked shots, and senior guard Victoria Baker, a California-Irvine signee, with 13 points.
Recent St. Edward’s signee McCall Hampton and senior guard Kylie Ellsworth led the GHS attack with 11 and nine points, respectively. Hampton added eight rebounds and 5-11 junior Lauren Woodard had five boards. Farney was pleased with the hustle shown by junior point guard Graci Harris. She also commented on the progress being shown by 6-3 sophomore Nia Williams. “She can only get better,” Farney said of Williams, who had three rebounds in her short stints on the floor. “She’s just learning (the game).Two free throws by Marotte allowed the Rangers to hold a 10-8 lead after the first period. The Lady Eagles claimed a 25-24 lead with 10 seconds remaining in the first half on a pair of free throws by Hampton, but a 3-pointer by Rangers’ freshman Alea Pinai with three seconds left on the clock allowed Vista Ridge to retain the two-point lead at halftime.
After Ellsworth deadlocked the game at 27-27 in the opening seconds of the third quarter, Vista Ridge scored 11 consecutive points to gain control of the game, building a 38-27 lead. Baskets by Harris, Woodard and Hampton closed the gap to 42-35 after three. The Rangers completed the deal by outscoring GHS, 13-5, in the fourth period.
In sub-varsity action with Vista Ridge, the Freshman Blue used the one-two scoring punch of Madelyne Furr (18 points) and Ainsley Pelzcar (11 points) to down the first-year Rangers, 45-22, while the GHS JV dropped a 30-27 despite a balanced attack with Shelia Lee and Megan Herring each scoring eight points and Brielle Maxwell adding seven. In another game Tuesday night, the Freshman White bested Salado, 26-13. While the varsity is taking a break from competition this weekend, Georgetown’s three sub-varsity teams are taking part in tournaments. The JV (0-3) and Freshman Blue (3-0) will be playing in the East View Tournament on Thursday and Saturday, while the Freshman White (1-1) will be competing in the Cameron Yoe event on the same days.
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TUESDAY’S NON-DISTRICT GAME
At Eagle Gym
VISTA RIDGE 55, GEORGETOWN 40
VISTA RIDGE (55) — Alea Pinai 2-4 0-0 6, Riley Leedholm 1-1 0-0 2, Chloe Chessher 0-2 0-0 0, Viet-Thy Dang 0-3 0-0 0, A.J. Marotte 6-12 3-4 17, Jazra Williams 1-5 0-0 2, Victoria Baker 6-11 0-2 13, Zion Neat 3-8 2-2 8, Weade Adeleke 2-7 1-5 5, Jordyn Lions 0-1 0-0 0, Ester Tanco 0-0 0-0 0, Nevaeh McNeil 1-1 0-0-2. Totals: 22-55 6-13 55.
GEORGETOWN (40) — Ella Vickers 1-3 0-0 3, Kylee Sander 1-2 0-0 2, Hailey Hanson 0-0 0-0 0, McCall Hampton 2-10 7-8 11, Kylie Ellsworth 3-14 1-2 9, Graci Harris 1-6 4-6 6, MacKenzy Mouton 2-6 1-2 5, Mercedes Robledo 0-0 0-0 0, Lauren Woodard 2-5 0-0 4, Nia Williams 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 12-47 13-18 40.
Halftime: VR, 27-25. 3-point shooting: VR 5-20 (Pinai 2-4, Chessher 0-1, Dang 0-3, Marotte 2-5, Williams 0-1, Baker 1-2, Neat 0-4(; GHS 3-13 (Vickers 1-3, Ellsworth 2-8, Harris 0-1, Hampton 0-12). Rebounds: VR 32 (Mariotte 13, Williams 5); GHS 31 (Hampton 8, Woodard 5, Sander 4, Ellsworth 4, Harris 4, Williams 4). Blocks: VR 2 (Marotte 2); GHS 0. Assists: GHS 13 (Sander 4, Woodard 3, Harris 2, Ellsworth 2). Steals: VR 14; GHS 7 (Woodard 3). Turnovers: VT 16; GHS 23. Total fouls: VR 16, GHS 14. Fouled out: none. Technical fouls: Records: Vista Ridge 6-2; Georgetown, 3-4.
TUESDAY’S SUB-VARSITY GAMES
(GHS scoring only)
VISTA RIDGE JV 30, GEORGETOWN JV 27 — Jasqui Spencer 0, Brooke White 0, Samantha Folsom 0, Tanaya Smith 0, Morgan Larson 1, Shelia Lee 8, Megan Herring 8, Brielle Maxwell 7, Aryana Hill 0, Jordyn Stout 3, Lauren Cavanaugh 0. Halftime: VT, 18-15. GHS record: 0-3.
GEORGETOWN FRESHMAN BLUE 45, VISTA RIDGE FRESHMEN 22 — Erica Ramthun 2, Avery Lopez 2, Jane Butler 2, Taylor Meyners 7, Amiya Gonzales 3, Madelyne Furr 18, Ainsley Pelzcar 11. Halftime: GHS, 24-13. GHS record: 3-0.
GEORGETOWN FRESHMAN WHITE 26, SALADO FRESHMAN 13 — Natalie Floriano 0, Reagan Nelson 4, Elleiah McKinley 2, Danielle Rodriguez 6, Payton Humphrey 4, Lourdes Ramos 0, Sarah Herrera 4, Abby Brent 2, Julia Henderson 0, Natalie Rivera 4. Halftime: GHS, 12-5. GHS record: 1-1.
UPCOMING VARSITY SCHEDULE
Monday, Nov. 25 — Victoria East, 1:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 26 — at Lorena, 12:30 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 30 — Vandegrift, 1:30 p.m.
Monday, Dec. 2 — Kyle Lehman, 6:30 p.m.