North Callaway isn’t the team that showed up on Monday.
Head coach Andrew Klein said the Ladybirds can and will do better soon after a 52-20 loss to Macon in the first round of the …
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North Callaway isn’t the team that showed up on Monday.
Head coach Andrew Klein said the Ladybirds can and will do better soon after a 52-20 loss to Macon in the first round of the Centralia tournament. North Callaway fell too far behind after allowing a 26-1 run to close the first half.
North Callaway had taken a 7-6 lead prior to Macon taking control of the game. Klein said Macon’s pressure gave the Ladybirds trouble as their sophomore backcourt couldn’t prevent a mass of turnovers.
“That’s going to happen with a young team,” Klein said. “My backcourt is three sophomores. They’re getting better, and we’re going to turn the corner on Wednesday. Actually, starting (Tuesday) at practice, we’re going to turn the corner for this season.”
Klein said North Callaway’s start has been with four losses in four games against teams with winning records. Macon improved its record to 3-1 as it was led by 15 points each from Reece Barnett and Whitley Winkler.
Doing better against pressure or anything else opponents throw at the Ladybirds takes more experience, Klein said, but he believes these girls have more potential.
“We’re not going to continue to play this way,” Klein said. “It’s not an expectation I have for them. It’s not an expectation they have for themselves. Our expectations are that we’ll fix things.”
Emily Huddleston led with six points, Morgan Benne had four points and eight rebounds, and Kymorie Myers had four points and six rebounds. Sophie Olsson had an early season ankle injury as she came off the bench on Monday. Her fellow sophomores Huddleston and Anna Shryock continue to become familiar with the point guard role when Olsson isn’t on the floor.
North Callaway plays Hallsville (1-4) at 9 p.m. Wednesday in the consolation semifinals to attempt to avoid elimination. Klein said his girls are capable of handling adversity.
“I think we should have more confidence,” Klein said. “A lot of the girls are feeling unconfident about themselves right now. Having some tough games can do that to you, but I love our girls and think that they’re talented and incredible young ladies that are going to do awesome things outside of basketball.”
