The tournament trail began and ended for the Gehlen Catholic girls basketball team on Thursday night who dropped their opener to George-Little Rock by a score of 60-44.
From the beginning of the game, the Mustangs were in a groove hitting three point field goals that grew their lead to 12 in the first half. Gehlen Catholic head coach Brandon Schaecher says his team just did not have the quantity of shot attempts to compete with the Mustangs.
That 12-point lead shrunk to two by the time the two teams went into the locker room at halftime. Unfortunately, that lead would grow again and again in the second half with the Mustangs outscoring the Jays 37-23 to finish the game. Coach Schaecher says his team could not hang on to the momentum after the halftime break.
The Jays’ season ends with a record of 8-14. Gehlen Catholic will graduate three seniors off this year’s team in Jayden Barthole, Miyah Whitehead, and Sophie Ruden. Coach Schaecher says those seniors had an important message for the rest who will return next season.
The only bright side of a season ending loss is that there will be a next season soon. For the players who will return, Coach Schaecher says the preparation for that season begins right away if they do not want this feeling again.
Gehlen Catholic was led on the offensive end with 16 points from Rysaiah Sitzmann. George-Little Rock improved their record to 5-16 and will face fourth-ranked Remsen St. Mary’s on Tuesday, February 14 at 7:00 PM in Remsen.
