ALTON – Every game for Alton's girls basketball team this season will be a learning experience for the young Redbirds.
The Redbirds' 49-21 loss to Cahokia in Friday's nightcap of the Alton Tip-Off Classic doubleheader was a case in point, in Redbird coach Bob Rickman's eyes.
Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
“Tonight's game helped us figure out who plays hard, who doesn't,” Rickman said. “We've got some people who give us the effort that's going to help us be able to win some games; we've just got to find five people who will give us that same effort all the time. We can't play any team on our schedule with two or three girls going hard and the other ones taking off a possession, making mental mistakes that they shouldn't be making.
“That's the thing that really hurt us tonight – we had some good things going and them, somebody would sub in and they didn't keep that momentum going, and we'd give up two or three baskets because someone wasn't doing their job on defense, making a bad decision on a pass or whatever.”
Mistakes are part of the game, Rickman acknowledged. “We're going to make mistakes,” Rickman said, “and against a team like that, you're going to make mistakes; it's the kind of mistakes players are making that's the difference. That's the thing that's really hurting us right now. We've got some sophomores that have to cut out those mistakes, we've got some freshmen who that's got to cut out those mistakes. We've got some juniors and seniors that's got to cut out those mistakes.”
“I think we played a whole game tonight,” Comanche coach Todd Hill said. “The girls were really disappointed on Monday (in their loss to Hardin-Calhoun) because we felt like we left something on the table; we had a 12-point lead and we didn't finish the deal. We're playing a lot of young kids; we've got two seniors, we have a freshman in the starting lineup and two sophomores.
“We were able to forge ahead and hold on to it and maintain it; that's another step in the right direction for us as a young team in learning how to win. The girls have to work hard to learn the system and try to play how we want them to play, so I'm really proud of their effort for us tonight.”
Cahokia got out of the gate quickly and never looked back, getting out to an 11-4 lead at quarter time and extending it to 22-13 at halftime. The Comanches did not give up a third-term point until Allurah Bowens connected from behind the three-point arc with 2:46 to go in the period and pulled away as the second half went on.
Leilani Hill led the Redbirds with seven points on the night, with Allurah Bowens adding six; Meysha Jones led the Comanches with 14 points, with Makayla Bromlee adding 12 on the evening.
The Redbirds meet Jersey at 4:30 p.m. today in the fifth-place contest, with the Comanches taking in Springfield Lanphier at 6 p.m. with third place at stake; Hardin-Calhoun meets up with Breese Mater Dei at 7:30 p.m. for the tournament championship.
