Offensive drought sinks 6th graders

With a few seconds left in the 6th grade's game, a coach that had the next game was baffled when he looked at the scoreboard.

His eyes were deceived as the only thing he saw in the second half was the ball on the 6th grade's offensive side of the court.

All he saw was the 6th grade girls' press creating turnover after turnover.

What he didn't pay attention to was that the 6th graders did not make a field goal the entire second half in a 7-1 loss.

"I thought Red was winning," he said.

So the story goes for the offensively challenged 6th graders who did everything they could to snap their two game losing streak but get the ball in the hoop.

Normally when you hold the other team to 7 points in a game, you should be victorious.

In fact, the other team didn't have more than a handful shots attempted the entire second half, which illustrates how mightily the 6th grade girls struggled offensively.

It's hard to focus on the positive aspects of the game, like creating turnovers, playing strong on the press, and defensively holding the other team to a handful of shots, when you score only one point in the game.

That bucket came courtesy of Kaela who hit her free throw in the 4th quarter that had cut the lead to 4-1. As a whole, the team shot 1-of-6 from the line.

On paper, this game was a win. They were going up against a team they had beaten by double digits to start the season.

Unfortunately games are decided on the court, and the girls fell for the third straight game and are now at .500 on the year with a (3-3) record.

They won't have much time to dwell on their performance because their next game is tomorrow at noon against a team they lost to by 5 just last Sunday.

Today they had their share of opportunities but couldn't convert. They had a few shots that just bounced out, and then some other shots that were just hard to describe. At least three times the girls had wide open looks and shot the ball over the backboard, something that they simply cannot afford to do -- especially when they've improved so much already this season.

Jamie and Kelly were getting their hands on a lot of steals, but just couldn't finish on their lay-ups on the fast break.

Victoria had her share of good looks but wasn't able to score.

Fiona, who looked tired as the game went on, could barely muster enough energy on her shots that were going flat to the basket.

For a team that won three straight to start the year, this game was obviously disheartening.

They've reverted back to their bad habits of getting nervous when they get the ball, and taking shots when they aren't squared to the basket. They throw the balls toward the hoop hoping they'll somehow go in, instead of shooting it with confidence.

It'll help a lot tomorrow if they can get a bucket or two early in the game to boost their morale, because the bucket looks very tiny right now.

The girls were also missing Edwena, who sat out with an illness. No word on whether she will be there tomorrow at this time.