LIMA – Lima Senior continues to display its inexperience and against Toledo Whitmer it led to the Spartans’ fifth straight loss as the Spartans fell, 68-53, in a Three Rivers Athletic Conference clash Thursday night.
Lima Senior remains winless in the TRAC at 0-4 and falls to 1-5 overall. Whitmer evens its overall record to 3-3 and improves to 2-1 in league play.
Lima Senior head coach Vance Halliday said he knew Whitmer, who was predicted to finish second in the league, was going to be a tough challenge but he was proud of the effort his team put in for most of the game.
“The effort tonight was much better than it has been the last two nights,” Halliday said. “They (Whitmer) are a good basketball team and fundamentally sound.”
The Spartans’ inexperience was most evident early in the third quarter when the Panthers took control of the game. Despite not having the weapons, depth and experience, the enthusiastic Spartans stayed close to Whitmer in the first half and continued to do at the onset of the second half.
And when Spartan Kierre James knocked down a 3-pointer to get Lima Senior within three, 35-32 at the 5:30 mark of the third quarter, it put the Spartans in a position for a possible upset.
But that was quickly dispelled in a span of a little more than two minutes when Whitmer went on a 13-4 run to open up a 48-36 lead at the 3:06 mark to take control of the game. The Panthers would never see the lead dip under double digits the rest of the game.
In that game-changing stretch, the Spartans committed five turnovers and several mental miscues.
“We just lost focus on both ends of the floor,” Halliday said. “We gave up a couple of easy shots on the defensive end. We lost a couple of people and then offensively we tried to run some plays and we had people going in different directions. We are not talented enough not to be focused for 32 minutes. I think that is the big takeaway from this game.”
The lack of focus was one reason the Spartans faltered but it also didn’t hurt the Panthers that they had the full services of Bryce Blood in the second half. The first-team, all TRAC selection, who had sat much of the first half due to foul trouble, pumped in 13 points in the second half and grabbed 10 rebounds on the night. Blood also made her defensive presence known by thwarting several Spartan drives to the hoop.
“I’ll say this they (Lima Senior) scrapped and played extremely hard all night long,” Whitmer head coach Brandon Bosch said. “I thought they shot the three ball extremely well and I think that kept them in the game. I think a big plus for us was Bryce Blood who sat most of the first half with foul trouble but having her in there makes teams play us differently.”
Even without Blood in the first half, the multi-talented Panthers utilized their other weapons for offense. Maddie Brown finished with a team-high 17 points, nine of which game in the first half and Sarah Semler, who finished with 15 points, scored 11 of those in the first half.
“I thought Sarah Semler played phenomenal for us and I think a couple of the other role players settled down in the second half to get things rolling for us,” Bosch said.
James led the Spartans in scoring with 16 points.
“We had some girls that did some nice things but we had too many turnovers and a few too many loose ones where they are not really forced but making bad decisions,” Halliday said. “We are in a funk right now. I thought the effort was better and we are working at it.”
The Spartans will try to end their losing streak Saturday when they battle cross-country rival Lima Central Catholic.
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