Inconsistency Foils Charger Girls at G-R, 59-48

Harvey MacKay is an American businessman and author who has been quoted as saying, "If your are persistent, you'll get it. If your are consistent, you'll keep it." MacKay's statement seems appropriate regarding the last two performances by the ACGC girls' basketball team.

On Tuesday of last weekthe Chargers shot 45% in a convincing 53-29 win over Earlham. One might conjecture that the many hours of shooting practice by the Charger players was a big factor in that one sided victory. In other words, their persistence enabled them to "get it."

In this game the team shot 26% from the field in a discouraging defeat at the hands of non-conference opponent Glidden-Ralston. In this case, the Chargers didn't "keep it." As a result, the Wildcats handled the Chargers 59-48 on their home floor in Glidden.

G-R jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the early going before the Chargers bounced back to trail by just a point at 11-10 at quarter's end. From there it was mostly downhill for ACGC, as the Wildcats built a 29-18 lead by halftime.

The closest the Chargers came in the second half was at 33-25 two minutes into the third period. G-R quickly slammed the door and scored six points within a minute to make it 39-25. Game over! By quarter's end the Wildcat lead has swelled to 47-27. A twenty one point forth quarter by the Chargers was too little, too late as the team saw its record fall to 3-2 on the season.

Kylie Young was the lone Charger to score in double figures with seventeen points that included three treys. Her ten rebounds gives her a double double for the game. Taylor Carlson turned in her best scoring performance, as the sophomore guard came up with nine points.

To this observer the most interesting number for the night is the Charger's free throw percentage. ACGC made fifteen of nineteen free throws for 79%! Contrast that with its less than stellar field goal percentage, and we come back to consistency.

"We had a rough game," Charger head coach Brad Baudler said following the loss. "We came out slow and didn't have the energy and effort that was needed. Glidden shot the ball extremely well and they hit big shots when we were coming back. It was one of those games where we didn't do enough from the beginning and put ourselves in a hole."

Score by quarter:

ACGC 10 8 9 21--49

G-R 11 18 18 12--59

Charger statistics: (TP-REB-ASTS-STLS) TCarlson (9-1-0-0); Dorsey (2-0-3-3); Young (17-10-1-1)

McClain (8-5-0-4) Bunde (8-1-0-4) Carney (3-0-0-0); 0'Brien (0-0-1-1); Richter (1-3-0-0)