Crusaders Fall to Blue Knights in Non League Tilt
Playing a TALENTED group of mostly 7th and 8th graders, the Crusders dropped a 38-19 decision at Democracy Prep on Friday. Although the score didnt go as we would have hoped, there were many positives to come from the contest, and this will prepare us well for the final stages of our season.
Special shoutout to DPAC guard Mikaiah Verdum, who dropped 17 points and was three for three from beyond the arc, all while directing her team very well on both offense and defense as well. She is going to be special, and it was great to see our kids take on the challenge of trying to control her.
Kudos to Portlynn. who corralled six caroms on the day vs the taller Blue Knights and scored the first Crusader points of the game to stop a 4-0 DPAC run to start the game. Faith did tie the score at 4-4 before DPAC rattled off the next eight, to take a 12-4 lead after the first seven, yes seven, minutes. We closed the gap a bit to start the second as Neveah sank two free throws, much to the consternation of a DPAC crowd trying to rile her up. We closed it to 12-7 before the Knights went on a sustained run, extending the lead to 22-10 at the half.
Faith made another mini run to start the third stanza, cutting it to 24-13, but then the aforementioned Mikaiah TOOK OVER, sandwiching a two treys around a transition basket, and DPAC led 30-13 with less than a minute left in the third quarter. It would have been easy to just mail it in the rest of the way, but the Crusaders didnt do that, and instead played the best three minutes of the game at the end of the third and start of the 4th quarter, closing the lead to 30-19 and with a good look to cut it to eight as back to back trey attempts from Mia and Annika rimmed in and out. Danielle propelled the run, with two big rebounds and two assists to go along with a basket,
That was as close as Faith would get, as DPAC scored the final eight points of the game, as we were taking defensive risks in an effort to get steals, and the experienced Knights handled it well.
Great job by Addison, Dena, Skylar, Arianna and Mia, as they allowed only two points in the final three minutes of the game...nicely done!
Overall, while the final score didnt show it, there were still many positives to take from this contest, and it will help us as we finish the season. This Democracy Prep won four games in a Middle School Varsity League this season (the same league our 7/8 Girls A Team plays in!) and we played them tighter than a couple of the teams in that league did. The coaches are very proud of the effort, and some of the crowd at DPAC congratulated us on playing as well as we did, especially once they found out it was a team of ALL sixth graders.
As Kelly Clarkson says....What Doesnt Kill You Makes Your Stronger!!!
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Kudos to Portlynn. who corralled six caroms on the day vs the taller Blue Knights and scored the first Crusader points of the game to stop a 4-0 DPAC run to start the game. Faith did tie the score at 4-4 before DPAC rattled off the next eight, to take a 12-4 lead after the first seven, yes seven, minutes. We closed the gap a bit to start the second as Neveah sank two free throws, much to the consternation of a DPAC crowd trying to rile her up. We closed it to 12-7 before the Knights went on a sustained run, extending the lead to 22-10 at the half.
Faith made another mini run to start the third stanza, cutting it to 24-13, but then the aforementioned Mikaiah TOOK OVER, sandwiching a two treys around a transition basket, and DPAC led 30-13 with less than a minute left in the third quarter. It would have been easy to just mail it in the rest of the way, but the Crusaders didnt do that, and instead played the best three minutes of the game at the end of the third and start of the 4th quarter, closing the lead to 30-19 and with a good look to cut it to eight as back to back trey attempts from Mia and Annika rimmed in and out. Danielle propelled the run, with two big rebounds and two assists to go along with a basket,
That was as close as Faith would get, as DPAC scored the final eight points of the game, as we were taking defensive risks in an effort to get steals, and the experienced Knights handled it well.
Great job by Addison, Dena, Skylar, Arianna and Mia, as they allowed only two points in the final three minutes of the game...nicely done!
Overall, while the final score didnt show it, there were still many positives to take from this contest, and it will help us as we finish the season. This Democracy Prep won four games in a Middle School Varsity League this season (the same league our 7/8 Girls A Team plays in!) and we played them tighter than a couple of the teams in that league did. The coaches are very proud of the effort, and some of the crowd at DPAC congratulated us on playing as well as we did, especially once they found out it was a team of ALL sixth graders.
As Kelly Clarkson says....What Doesnt Kill You Makes Your Stronger!!!
