ALTAMONT — Squaring off against a familiar face on the sideline, the Labette County Grizzlies girls fell to the Pittsburg Purple Dragons, 53-27, on Friday night in SEK League action.
Pittsburg’s head coach, Tristan Gegg, is a Labette County alum and the all-time leading scorer in SEK League history. Gegg’s assistant, Karsyn Stewart, also played for the Grizzlies.
“I’m proud of Tristan and what she’s accomplished,” Labette County head coach Brianna Volmer said. “I wish her nothing but success. She’s tenacious and I expect nothing less. You talk about Tristan Gegg and you talk about Labette County. She represents our program well. Karsyn is a great alum as well. They’re young women in our community giving back to the game we love so much.”
In Friday’s loss, the Grizzlies’ offense was stagnant.
“Pittsburg was extremely physical,” Volmer said. “We couldn’t get open. That’s been a thorn in our side. We’ve figured some things out defensively. But our offense can’t dictate things. We’ve got to get more reps in practice and keep trucking along.”
Labette County continues to struggle to stretch defenses, hitting just three 3-pointers in the loss.
Paityn Davis led the Grizzlies with nine points.
“We need to be more active,” Volmer said. “We tend to stand a lot. We have way too many turnovers by trying to pass through hands. It goes back to fundamentals. Are we getting good reps in practice? The answer is no, right now. We have to learn not to panic. We’ve just got to be basketball players.”
The loss dipped Labette County to 3-7 overall.
“It’s frustrating, no doubt,” Volmer said. “These kids want to please and continue to work. They’re not throwing in the towel. Neither am I. That’s not in Labette County’s nature. We’ll keep working hard.”
Up next
Labette County faces Independence in the first round of the Burlington Invitational on Tuesday.
“I think we can be competitive,” Volmer said. “This is the best tournament on the girls’ side in Kansas. We’ve got a bunch of ranked teams … Our side of the bracket is a great draw. We think we can compete and get better. Indy is a tough team. But we stayed away from the vicious side of things. We’ll see what happens.”
