Lady Jackets bear deafening defeat against Saints

By Lauren Vargas

This Saturday, February 7th, Cedarville honored its graduating players with a senior day game to be remembered. This GMAC matchup against Thomas More was swift and intense, but it was an uphill battle from the start for the Lady Jackets. They were outdone by the Saints, 75-53, making the Jackets 8-14 on the season.

Cedarville struggled for possession in the first period, and the Saints’ speed and accuracy proved difficult to tackle. Thomas More’s Rylee Leonard was injured 8 minutes into the first quarter during a brief tussle, furthering Cedarville’s need for communication to avoid such fouls. The Lady Jackets then buckled down, but so did their opponent.

The score remained relatively even for the first half. The Saints grabbed every rebound, and the Lady Jackets would make the most of every turnover. Ella Sellars led the Jackets in steals, blocks and points entering the second half. Still, Cedarville continued to let turnovers slip through the cracks, with 17 on the game, which would prove devastating. 

The Saints’ efficiency allowed them to capitalize on turnovers, taking its toll on the Jackets. The third period brought a 17-point difference between the teams, an impressive lead considering the teams’ matched abilities. But Cedarville still had time to make up the deficit. 

Harmony Laker and Emma Kay Martin added to Sellars’ shots and created a three-way tie between the Jacket’s lead scorers in an effort to push the Saints back. The Jacket’s Chloe Downing also stepped up as lead rebounder with five, making the most of The Saints’ shortcomings at the net.

The effort, unfortunately, was too little too late. The Thomas More Saints struck hard and fast, and although the Lady Jackets fought valiantly, the final score heavily favored the Saints. 

Head coach Addy Miller knows her team has some adjustments to make going forward. 

“They [Thomas More] shot it well,” Miller said. “We didn’t, and we still gotta hit people on the defensive side, and I didn’t feel like we did a good job on any one of those. We had been playing hard, we had been on the detailed side, there had only been lapses of a few minutes here or there… but it’s something we’ve got to fix”. 

Although Cedarville walked away with the loss, the team put forth such effort, reinforcing their morale despite the circumstances. The bench provided a lift with 30 points, a positive note on a tough matchup.

“Anyone that comes off the bench, their job is to be a spark, and I feel like they did a good job of that,” Miller said. 

“We gotta keep learning,” Miller said. “We gotta keep learning the game. We gotta keep increasing the IQs of different situations, different scenarios, different parts of the game. We’ve been working on that, and we’ll continue to.”

The Lady Jackets will return Thursday, Feb. 12 in their upcoming match against Ashland. Hopefully, their attention to detail will revive their season and give them new vigor moving forward.

Lauren Vargas is a sophomore biology student with a minor in Spanish and a sports writer for Cedars. She’s an avid weightlifter and loves watching movies in her free time.