HOPE — Hauser looked like it was about to pull off an upset against Batesville in Friday night’s girls basketball contest.
The Bulldogs spoiled the plans putting up 12 straight points and ended the game outscoring the Jets 14-2 to give Hauser a 44-40 loss.
Mental mistakes and free throws were the biggest woes for the Jets in the game. They went 7-for-19 from the line in the game.
“The difference in the game wasn’t anything that they did, it was what we did,” Hauser coach Chad Evans said. “If we hit 70-percent of our free throws, we win by three or four points. Defensively, I was happy, it was better.”
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Hauser (1-1) was a bit slow coming out of the gate in the first couple minutes, and that allowed Batesville jump out to a 6-0 lead. Once the Jets were finally able to settle, they cut it to 6-5 following a Mel Hasler basket inside with the great pass from Kyliegh Parrot. Both teams then exchanged free throws with the Bulldogs leading 8-7 after the opening quarter.
The Jets took the lead with an Aunaka Wasil basket, but then Batesville responded with two 3-point baskets from Carlie Werner that sparked a 6-2 run to lead 14-11. The Jets then came back with a 3-pointer from Wasil to cap off five straight points. Werner hit her third triple of the second quarter during a 7-0 run to lead 21-16, but Parrot knocked down a 3 to make it 21-19 at the half.
Near the end of the second quarter, Evans put the defensive specialist Hasler to guard Werner, who put up 12 points in the first half. Werner went without a basket in the third quarter and scored her first points in the second half off of two free throws with 2:43 left in the game. That set up the Bulldogs final run to end the game.
“We had a bunch of mental errors in the fourth quarter,” Evans said. “We got to get that killer-instinct into us, we just lost focus and made errors down the stretch. Overall, we lost. There’s no such thing as a moral victory. I wasn’t happy with the outcome, just too many mistakes.”
Werner finished with a game-high 23 points and Ashley Nobbe added 11 for the Bulldogs.
For the Jets, Hannah Johnson and Parrot each scored nine points, while Hasler added eight.
Hauser will look to bounce back as they take on South Ripley at 3:30 p.m. today.
