Jets’ late rally not enough

SEYMOUR — The Hauser girls basketball team fell behind Trinity Lutheran late in the game and couldn’t muster enough points in the final quarter Saturday to pull out a road victory.

The Jets rallied to score the final five points of the third quarter, but the visitors couldn’t get any closer in the final period, resulting in a 77-65 loss.

Coach Brad Hamilton said that a bright spot in the Jets’ performance was the battle toward the end.

“The positives, I think, are that we never quit,” he said. “We battled to the end. We missed a lot of free throws. This is two straight games we’ve missed at least 16 free throws, and we lost by 12. We’ve got to hit free throws better and play better defense.”

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Both teams were aggressive on defense throughout, with 53 fouls being called. Hauser (1-1) was 28 for 44 at the line while the Cougars (2-0) made 30 of 38 free throws.

“We can’t give up 77 points,” Hamilton said. “Sixty-five is enough to win a game in my opinion. I’m satisfied with that effort offensively. We’ve got a lot of work to do on the defensive end.”

A 3-pointer by the Jets’ Paige Miller left the game tied 9-9 midway through the opening period before Trinity outscored Hauser 6-3 the remainder of the period for a 15-12 lead.

The Cougars scored the first four points of the second period to take a 19-11 lead and stayed in front the rest of the game.

Leslie Sims kept the Jets close with a 3-point basket, and by going 5 for 6 at the line for eight points in the second quarter to make it a 36-31 game at the half.

Miller stayed hot with four baskets for 10 points in the third. Her basket late in the period brought Hauser within 53-48 going into the final period.

Maddie Roark made two free throws at the beginning of the fourth quarter to put Trinity on top 55-48. A runner in the lane by Whitney Rogers with 5:32 remaining boosted the Cougars’ lead to 62-52, and the closest the Jets could get after that was nine points.

Miller scored a game-high 23 points. Leslie Sims added 20, and Tessa Sims had 10.

Hamilton said he was pleased to see his team hold a 31-24 advantage on the boards, as Tessa Sims grabbed 14 rebounds and Miller had eight.

“We battled, but we didn’t battle consistently,” Hamilton said. “It came down to, they attacked the rim, they made shots.”

Roark and Jodi Goecker topped the Cougars with 18 points each. Piper Acton added 10. Nine players scored for Trinity.

“We had a lot of girls contributing today,” Trinity coach Mike Lang said. “It just wasn’t one or two players scoring.”