CHERRYVALE — Dropping their first two games of the year, the Cherryvale Chargers girls fell to Independence at home on Thursday, 51-41, and Riverton on the road, 46-44, on Friday.
In Thursday’s loss to Independence, turnovers were abundant for the Chargers’ offense.
Cherryvale trimmed a double-digit deficit to as low as three points in the third quarter before the Bulldogs pulled away for good.
“We had a little bit of nerves and that was a lot of it,” Cherryvale head coach Kelsey Overacker said. “We have to be better at handling the ball and handling pressure. Independence did a good job of controlling the game and did the little things. We had a lot of possessions where we missed layups. We saw some good things. We just got to do the little things.”
Foul trouble was also problematic for the Chargers — Mia Smith and Maycee Dean each fouled out while Tatum Marchant and Addy Boss racked up four whistles apiece.
“We play aggressive defense,” Overacker said. “So we tend to foul. But a lot of fouls came on second chances and that’s something we can control.”
Brooklyn Mattix led the Bulldogs with 21 points. “She’s physical and likes to score,” Overacker said. “She’s strong and looks for her shot. We put one of our best on-ball defenders on her and she still got open.”
Marchant led Cherryvale with 16 points, including three treys.
“We know our scorers,” Overacker said. “We didn’t score as much in transition as much as we wanted to.”
On Friday, the Chargers led most of the night before Riverton mounted a fourth-quarter comeback.
Cherryvale led Riverton, 39-32, going into the final stanza.
“It was another tough one,” Overacker said. “We lost a little bit of a heartbreaker. We saw a lot of good things and took care of the ball a lot better.”
Ellie Helms paced Riverton with 25 points while Harmony John led Cherryvale with 16 points.
Up next
Cherryvale competes in the Wildcat Winter Classic at Yates Center this week.
“We want to have a good mindset and focus on us,” Overacker said. “We have the talent and ability. But we have to get in shape. We want to play full court defense, and we have to do that without fouling.”
