WARDSVILLE - It's been a busy and challenging start to the season for the Blair Oaks Lady Falcons,.
That remains the case this week, as Blair Oaks is slated to face Helias on Monday and Jefferson City on Tuesday in the Jefferson Bank Holiday Hoops Invitational at Fleming Fieldhouse.
Blair Oaks' third game of the Invitational is canceled because Hickman is no longer participating in the event.
The Lady Falcons split their first two games of the season, defeating Fulton and falling to Helias on back-to-back nights, before finishing third in the Tri-County Conference Tournament with an overtime victory against California.
Quality wins against St. James and Hermann followed before losses to Jefferson City and Fatima.
This past week has given the Lady Falcons a break from games and a chance to work in practice.
"They just need to continue to try to improve on the things that we talk about day to day," Blair Oaks coach Brandon Moore said. "Some of that for us is building confidence. We don't typically play a schedule this tough this early."
Blair Oaks and Helias will be the first matchup of the Invitational, with a tip-off at noon. The Lady Crusaders defeated the Lady Falcons 62-49 last month in Wardsville.
"I think the exciting thing is you get to regroup, re-gameplan for them and see how that works," Moore said. "We feel like we're better than we were the first time we played Helias. We're going to change up some things and hopefully play a little bit better."
In another rematch, Blair Oaks will take on the Jefferson City Lady Jays, who won this matchup 57-37 earlier this month at Fleming Fieldhouse, at 5 p.m. Tuesday.
Kara Daly and Sarah Linthacum each scored 16 points, while Grafton Craighead had 14 and Hannah Nilges added nine for Jefferson City.
"We've got to try to limit their best players as much as possible," Moore said. " They're just so long and so quick, so it's probably going to be more of how we can contain them in the half-court to try to limit their penetration and limit the easy buckets."
Leading the offensive effort for the Lady Falcons, who are scoring nearly 50 points per game, are Mallorie Fick, Bailey Rissmiler and Alyssa Hargus.
Blair Oaks is limiting opponents to 47.1 points per game.
"You just have to continue to go back and watch film, figure out the things that you can do a little bit better on," Moore said. "I think we've improved in some things. We're taking care of the ball a lot better. In order for us to take the next step we've got to do the little things."