Park girls basketball took on the Chaska Hawks in a high scoring game. Park ended up losing after their momentum slowed down halfway through the second half, and Chaska took control of the game with a final score of 76-92.
Coach Ron Howard said he thought the team played with a lot of heart and intensity even though they came short of the win.
“I think the girls played really hard,” Howard said. “They fought (and) they played together, so I think the game was really good for them today.“
Senior Evie Schmitz said the girls played well as a team but got caught up with issues with the referees of the game.
“I think we played really good as a team,” Schmitz said. “We dealt with some adversity with the referee, but we played really good overall.”
Senior Ruby Massie said even though the team played with a lot of heart, there were times throughout the game where the team as a whole lacked defense.
“We had some lapses on defense,” Massie said. “They scored like 90 points, (but) if we kept them under 70 we could have won.”
Schmitz said even though they lost, the spirit was at its highest it had been all season.
“We played really well as a team,” Schmitz said. “We had lots of energy, probably the most energy we had all season.”
Massie said the team hasn’t been playing to their full potential the last couple games, but after this game with all the energy, she thinks they are improving.
“We kind of hit a rough patch in the last week,” Massie said. “But I think we’re starting to get back into our normal pace of play.”
Howard said he believes the season is running smoothly, but they have had their rough patches throughout the season.
“I think the season is going really good,” Howard said. “We had some hiccups along the way to start it and in the middle but I think the girls understood the expectations that we set out for them and how we’re trying to change the culture of this program.”
The team has a chance to ride its energy against New Prague at 7 p.m. on Jan. 19 at the Parks main gym.
