RENO—The Spanish Springs girls were eliminated from postseason contention on Friday night with a 55-40 loss at McQueen.
The loss dropped the Cougars to 7-17, 4-10 in the DI North—four games behind fourth-place Reed with just two games to play. The Lancers, who secured second place with the win, improved to 18-5, 11-3.
“It’s tough. I wanted it for the girls,” Spanish Springs coach Art Cardenas said. “I know the girls wanted it to. We just couldn’t get it together. It’s tough.”
The Cougars trailed by as much as 17 in the second half but got within 42-34 with 4:09 remaining after a Tabbatha Reyes traditional three-point play.
Anhelica Shanrock stepped the line with the chance to cut the gap to six but missed the front end and the Lancers responded with an 11-3 run to put the game away.
The free throw line was an issue all night for the Cougs. They hit just 8-of-21 freebies.
“We’ve been working on it and stuff,” Cardenas said of the 38 percent effort from the stripe. “It just seems like when we’re behind we’re a little more tense … We shoot better when we’re ahead.”
Alysa Domingues led Spanish Springs with nine points. Shanrock had eight and Kalli Prendergast had seven.
McQueen’s Sadaria McAlister led all scorers with 18.
At the half, Spanish Springs had more turnovers (12) than points and trailed 25-11.
Domingues hit a jumper from just inside the arc on the Cougs’ first possession of the second half to shrink the early gap to 15-7 but the guests mustered just two more buckets the rest of the half.
McQueen led 15-5 after the first quarter thanks largely to eight quick points from Holly White.
The Cougars will play their final home game of the season on Tuesday night against North Valleys before wrapping the season up next Friday at Reed.
Both games tip at 5:15 p.m.
“We’re going to continue to play. We’re going to compete,” Cardenas said. “We’re going to continue to play as a team.”
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