When the Calvary Lutheran girls basketball team found themselves down 11-0 less than four minutes into Friday's game against Higbee, it looked as if it might be a long night for the Lady Lions.
Instead, Calvary battled back, cutting the lead to eight at halftime and keeping the game competitive before falling 59-37 to the Lady Tigers.
"I knew the girls had it in them to do it, and we talked about it at halftime, "Hey we're only down eight,'" Calvary coach Jonathan Kueck said, "but (Higbee) just didn't stop making (shots) in the second half."
Rhiannon Runyon led Higbee with 23 points, and Sabrina Huddleston chipped in 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting. Both girls are sophomores.
Kueck wasn't sure what to expect from the Lady Tigers coming in.
"They were in our district last year. We didn't ever play them," he said. "I knew they were young like we were, but man, they could just shoot the lights out."
Higbee made nine more field goals than Calvary on nine fewer shots.
"It was just like they could throw the ball anyway they wanted to," Kueck said. "They didn't have to have their feet set or anything, and it would just go in."
In addition to the Lady Lions' competitiveness, Kueck was happy with his team's ability to apply a full-court press, which it did for much of the game.
"I felt that overall we did not get beat on press, and so I like that," he said. "Especially when we moved into man, too. I was pleased with how the girls played man defense."
Rebounding was an advantage for the Lady Tigers, who pulled down 43 boards - including 18 on the offensive end - to Calvary's 37.
"They had a couple players that were not as tall as (6-foot Calvary sophomore Sam Gunn) but still sizable, so that hurt us especially on rebounds," Kueck said. "If we didn't get the rebound, they ate those up."
The Lady Lions' second quarter was their best of the night. Calvary entered the quarter down 20-7 but outscored Higbee 17-12.
But the Lady Tigers scored eight of the first 11 points in the second half to regain a 13-point advantage. Calvary wouldn't get within single digits again, and Higbee's 22-point at the end of regulation tied its biggest cushion of the night.
Huddleston pulled down 11 rebounds for Higbee and teammate Hope Clark also had 11 rebounds to go with her 13 points.
Gunn's 13 rebounds for Calvary were a game high, and Brooke Rollins led the Lady Lions in scoring with 15 points. Becca Thompson chipped in 13.
Calvary (2-5) plays again Dec. 30 at Chamois.