By Drew Terhall

DailyAdvocate.com

BROOKVILLE — It was a learning experience for the Lady Jets basketball team. They fell to Brookville, 48-33, on the road.

The offense struggled throughout the game for the Lady Jets. Head coach Tim Barga said it has been like that all season so far.

“We missed layup after layup, foul shot after foul shot. Foul shots beat us. They made a boat load, we missed some. We probably missed 15 layups,” Barga said.

Franklin Monroe looked like they could get by early in the game with their defense. But, Brookville caught up early.

The Lady Blue Devils just needed three made three-point shots to take a 9-7 lead after the first quarter. Brookville made six threes in the game.

The outside shooting threat opened up the middle of the defense. In the middle of the second quarter, Brookville went on a 7-0 run for three minutes to take a 20-12 lead.

The Lady Jets were having trouble against the full court press early on. They got better going up against it as the game went on, but they couldn’t make up for their previous mistakes.

Franklin Monroe was down 25-17 at halftime. Through the third quarter, they were doing enough to hang around. Defense kept getting turnovers and forced some bad shots.

But, the offense couldn’t click. Turnovers and mental mistakes continued to stall any momentum they could create from their defense.

The team is still working on improving their basketball IQ. Barga said there are times the team doesn’t execute a play right because they are still learning the game.

Even in this game, Barga called a timeout and drew up a play to beat the press. They were called for a back court violation and Barga called another timeout as a teaching moment for them.

He wants to get to a point where the players can understand and execute a play, whether it works or not will be on Barga.

“If it doesn’t work right, it’s my fault. But don’t make it your fault, make it be my fault,” Barga said.

In the fourth quarter, the foul shots got the best of Franklin Monroe. Brookville made seven free throws in the fourth and were 18 for 22 in the game from the line. The Lady Jets were 13 for 23 from the line in the game.

Senior Lillie Shellabarger led the team with nine points. Junior Presley Cox and sophomore Caydance Nichols each had six points.

The players played with effort the whole game, especially on defense. Barga said Shellabarger, Cox and senior Olivia Sease have been their senior captains or one of their main offensive options that are giving it their all each game.

Each player on the team does bring something different and does contribute. Barga said the rest of the team are all equal and wants to see all of them pick it up a bit.

It’s been and will be a process to improve. So far, they have shown some signs of improving.

“I like the kids, the kids are all good kids. They just don’t understand. The very first words that were said to me whenever I came here, we just talked about it, were, ‘We’re not very smart,’” Barga said. “They’re improving.”

The Lady Jets are 3-4 on the season with a 2-1 WOAC record. They will travel to Preble Shawnee on Dec. 21 with tip off set for 7:15 p.m. They will then go to Jonathan Alder on Dec. 23 for a noon start.

Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected]