ALTAMONT — On the heels of two straight wins, the Labette County Grizzlies girls fell to the Girard Trojans, 5746, at home on Thursday then to the Independence Bulldogs, 39-22, on the road on Friday.
Against Girard on Thursday, the Grizzlies trimmed a 20-point deficit to as low as six points in the second half.
“It was too little, too late,” Labette County head coach Brianna Volmer said. “We’ve got to start better. I’m proud of my kids and they showed some heart. We’ve just got to play better basketball earlier.”
Girard was without two of its starters in the game.
“I think we exerted so much energy figuring out how to play hard,” Volmer said. “That’s the conversation we had at halftime. We don’t want to take steps back. We have gotten better this year, especially in the last few games. And we started to play better in the second half. If we would’ve gotten just a few more stops, we would have had a different conversation.”
Amery Baker led Labette County with nine points, five coming in the fourth quarter after the senior forward was saddled with foul trouble.
“That’s what we need from Amery,” Volmer said. “We had some big moments from her. We have to put pressure on her. She’s about to be a college athlete, so she has to be able to perform under pressure. We’re looking to get her the ball.”
On Friday, Baker again led the Grizzlies with a dozen points.
“We saw some nice things from our kids at times as we continued to grind it out with our third game this week,” Volmer said. “Our post play was productive and I’m super proud of how hard we played. We’re scrappy and getting better.”
The two losses dipped Labette County’s record to 6-11 overall.
“We’re turning the corner with our effort and our defense,” Volmer said. “I know what works for us. We’re learning teams. We’re gaining confidence offensively. We’re starting to put up some good numbers.”
Up next
Labette County hosts Parsons on Tuesday.
“We’ve got a ton to play for and a lot of pride to play for,” Volmer said.
