In a tale of two halves on Monday night, the Apollo girls’ basketball team couldn’t maintain their halftime lead and fell 52-47 to visiting Henderson County.
After trailing by eleven points at the break, the Lady Colonels (1-0) found their way back into the game thanks to a strong shooting performance from Emilee Hope. Hope, the leading returning scorer for Henderson County this season, nailed six of her seven 3-point attempts in the second half. She finished the game with 23 points, only missing four shots from the floor.
Head coach Natalie Payne said the E-Gals (0-1) had some defensive lapses in the second half. That, more than the strong game from Hope, was too much to overcome for Apollo.
“Nothing changed as far as our strategy, but defensively we just kind of fell to pieces in that second half,” Payne said. “We lost focus and didn’t have the same coverage in our 2-3 zone, which forced us out of it.”
We’re going to struggle guarding a team with that kind of speed in a man-to-man defense. The shift started on defense, which affected our confidence on offense and we couldn’t cope with the game at that point.”
The contest was even early and was knotted up at 10-10 after the first quarter, but an onslaught of scoring from Apollo opened up an 11-point halftime lead.
Outscoring the Lady Colonels by a total of 16-5 in the second quarter, the E-Gals’ rally was spurred by a strong defensive run. In the first half, Apollo used a 2-3 zone, which stifled Henderson County and allowed the E-Gals a chance to showcase their grit and strength.
The E-Gals forced the Lady Colonels into seven turnovers, though Apollo finished with 11 turnovers of their own.
Payne said a lack of experience was another factor in the change of pace during their home opener. Though the E-Gals looked strong at certain points, specifically a strong second quarter, inexperience and nerves played a role as the Lady Colonels found their rhythm.
“The execution just isn’t there yet,” Payne said. “We only have one kid on the floor with much varsity experience and the rest are in their first year of experience. They have to get it some time, though, and I can’t use that excuse all year long. So, we’ll get back at it in practice and be ready to go next game.”
The E-Gals will be back in action Saturday when they travel to Hancock County for a 3:30 p.m. tipoff. Hancock County (0-1) lost their first game of the season Monday, falling 51-45 to Butler County in overtime.
Stat leaders (AHS): Kassidy Daugherty (15 points), Lexi Shadowen (8 points), Amari Sanders (7 points), Brylee Rhodes (6 points), Zoe Floyd (5 points), Regan Rone (4 points), Addison Carter (2 points)
