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Slow start dooms Tongaonxie girls against Mill Valley

By Evan Riggs - | Jan 21, 2016

Just four minutes into the game, the Tonganoxie girls basketball team found themselves in a 13-2 hole thanks in large part to seven early turnovers. The team would fight back, but was never able to overcome their slow start in a 62-33 loss to Mill Valley.

“We’re going to have to do some things differently pregame, both me and them,” head coach Matt Frost said. “We need to be locked in and be more serious before tip. It seems like it always takes us half the first quarter before we’re ready to roll.”

The loss dropped the Tonganoxie Chieftains to 1-7 on the season, while the Mill Valley Jaguars improved to 4-3 with the 29-point win.

“We just turned the ball over too much and let them get out in transition,” Frost said.

The Chieftains did most of their damage on the perimeter. Junior Taylor Lee was a bright spot for the Chieftains with 12 points and three made three pointers, and senior Kaitlin Hall also chipped in eight points with two made three pointers.

On the contrary, the Jaguars had their way in the paint. Senior Catie Kaifes led the way with 15 points, and junior Ashlyn Hendrix added 13 points

“They’re big, and across the board they’re the biggest team we played,” Frost said.

After facing a 13-2 deficit in the first quarter, the Chieftains went on a 6-1 run to pull back to within 14-8.

Late in the second quarter, the Chieftains trailed the Jaguars just 24-18 and had been able to frustrate them with a 2-3 zone. But a quick 7-0 spurt by the Jaguars going into halftime capped off by a buzzer beating three by freshman Presley Barton gave them a comfortable 31-18 lead at halftime.

“In the first half, I thought we played pretty well until the last two minutes,” Frost said. “We had them kind of nervous than we lost it the last couple minutes of the first half.”

In the third quarter, Mill Valley outscored Tonganoxie just 11-10 and led 42-28 heading into the fourth quarter. Facing a 14-point deficit, Frost decided to switch to a full court press in an effort to come back. But the game quickly got away from Tonganoxie.

To open the fourth quarter, the Jaguars repeatedly broke the Chieftains press and went on an 11-0 run to end any hope of a comeback.

Taylor Lee led Tonganoxie scorers with 12, while Kaitlin Hall chipped in 8.

“We’re getting better,” Frost said. “We’re just playing a lot of good teams.”


Team gets 1st victory

Tonganoxie got in the win column last week with a 54-20 victory against Turner on the road in Kansas City, Kan.

The Chieftains built a big enough lead that there was a running clock in the fourth quarter because of the mercy rule.