GOSHEN – After getting off to an 8-4 lead midway through the first quarter, things fell apart offensively for Lakeland Christian Academy in its 47-31 girls basketball loss at Bethany Christian Tuesday night. “It’s been the story all season so far. We stop making our open shots, we missed a layup here and there, and the confidence and intensity just deflates on the offensive end,” Lady Cougars head coach Allison Kaufman said. “Then we dug ourselves a little bit of a hole, and went in to the locker room eight points down, which isn’t a whole lot.” “But then we came out in the second half and miss our first couple of shots, and they make their first couple of shots, and it just deflates the intensity of our team on both ends.” Part of the Lady Cougars’ struggles can be credited to the Lady Bruin defense. Bethany Christian defenders tipped passes headed into the paint, either disrupting the LCA offense or turning over the ball. The Lady Cougars were charged with 21 turnovers in the game. Bethany Christian played a much cleaner game in the eyes of the officials. The Lady Bruins shot 25 free throws to Lakeland Christian’s three, and the Lady Cougars didn’t get to the free throw line until there were 40 seconds left in the game, well after the outcome had been decided. “They were the more physical team, and we shied away from the contact,” Kaufman said. “We stopped being the aggressive team, and let them be the aggressive team, both offensively and defensively.” The junior varsity game was cancelled due to player illness. Hope Fancil led the Lady Cougars with 16 points. Brady Gross, Anna Reimink and Jessica Slone had four points each, and Melissa Goss scored three. Gross had 11 rebounds. Bethany Christian improved to 7-3, while Lakeland Christian fell to 4-6. The Lady Cougars will host South Bend Trinity on Saturday.
