One. It was the number of field goals Spanish Springs scored in the third quarter of Tuesday night’s 45-32 home loss to McQueen.
The frustrating eight minutes for the Cougs saw a five-point halftime hole grow as deep as 14, an insurmountable difference.
“That was the story of the game. We missed a lot of layups,” Spanish Springs coach Art Cardenas said. “We executed the game plan, executed our sets and I felt (we played) pretty good defense. We just couldn’t put the ball in the hoop.”
Spanish Springs dropped to 5-14, 3-6 in the DI North with their second-straight loss. McQueen, which won its fourth straight, improved to 15-3, 8-1 in the DI North to keep pace with Reno for first place in the High Desert League.
After struggling to score the entirety of the second half, Spanish Springs found some rhythm in the fourth and cut the lead to eight, 30-22, with 6:03 remaining after an Ireland Bennett traditional three-point play. Bennett led the Cougs with nine points.
However, Spanish Springs never drew any closer, ending the upset bid.
“I loved the effort they gave,” Cardenas said. “We were right there with them.”
McQueen’s Sadaria McAlister had just five points after three quarters but scored 10 of her game-high 15 points in the fourth quarter to hold of Spanish Springs. Izzy Warren also reached double digits for the Lancers. She had 11.
McQueen was on top 16-11 after a low-scoring first half.
After Spanish Springs hit just one field goal the whole second quarter, Anhelica Shanrock drilled a triple with three minutes left in the half to get the Cougs within 16-11. Neither team scored again the rest of the half.
Shanrock, who finished with seven points, also concluded the scoring in the first quarter with a runner in the lane that got the hosts within 10-6.
Spanish Springs will attempt to prevent its skid reaching three games on Friday at North Valleys, which beat Reed on Tuesday night, 54-44, to improve to 5-4 in the DI North.
“It’s a must-win for us,” Cardenas said. “North Valleys is tough.”
Raiders fall into fourth place
Reed was outscored 32-17 in the second half on Tuesday night at North Valleys and was handed a 54-44 loss.
The Raiders (7-5, 5-4) entered the game a half game in front of the Panthers (11-3, 5-3) for third place in the High Desert League but dropped into fourth place with the defeat. North Valleys snapped a three-game skid to DI North teams with the win.
Reed led 16-9 after the first quarter and 27-22 at the half but lost the lead for good in the third when it was outscored 20-9, thanks largely to the efforts of Morgan Daniels.
Daniels scored 10 of her 14 points in the third. Passion Burrell also finished with 14.
No Reed player finished in double figures but Taylor Johnson, Serene Townsell-Williams and Vanessa Hernandez all had eight.
Reed, which has now dropped two of its last three, hosts Reno on Friday night. The Huskies are 17-2, 8-1.
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