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Sports
By Patrick Browne
The Lady Trojans dropped games against L’Anse on Dec. 15 and Florence on Dec. 18 to go into their winter break with a 1 and 5 record. The team has the pieces in place with two excellent guards, impressive senior leadership and accomplished multi-sport athletes, but thus far has been unable to consistently put the pieces together.
On Dec. 15 Forest Park took on the Purple Hornets of L’Anse and appeared to be in a position to get their second win of the season. Point guard Elsie Williams was back on the court after recovering from an injury and the team was excited to have their starting point guard ready to play. Starting strong and building an eight point lead, 11-3, after the first quarter, the Lady Trojans kept the lead heading into halftime 19 to 15.
Despite the lead being cut to a single point, 23-22, with the start of the fourth quarter, an excitement was building for win number two. Unfortunately, the team was outscored 14 to 10 in the fourth quarter and the Purple Hornets took the victory home 36 to 33.
Coach Kim Bjork stayed positive after the loss. “We had a good start. We’re moving the ball better and our shot selection is much improved.” Seven of the nine Lady Trojans contributed points with freshman Vienna Price leading the team with 10, Elsie Williams with eight and Lilly Post with seven.
Three days later, on Dec. 18 the team was back on the court against Florence and once again looked to be in a position to win. The game was always within reach, the players were still battling and an abundance of energy accompanied every Trojan trip up the court. Despite falling behind early, 22 to 14, the Lady Trojans were playing tenacious defense, causing turnovers and looked just one or two steps away from taking control of the game.
The eight point deficit held however as the teams played even for the rest of the game. Despite an impressive 18 points by Elsie Williams and 10 from Vienna Price, the team could not cut into the lead and lost the game by nine, 48 to 39.
Coach Bjork once again was positive despite the loss. “We had a slow start but once again we worked our way back into the game. It was a good effort by our girls. Our focus was rebounding and limiting our turnovers and we are getting better in those areas. We also shot better from the free throw line. We’re going to keep building on our intangibles and working on fundamental skills as we head into break. This team has a high ceiling and we’re excited to see their development continue.”