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| Sofia Chadwick 20 points, 8 assists, 5 rebounds (photo by Jim Lindquist) |
The game was decided in the first half when after Farmington jumped to a quick 12-6 lead the visitors closed on a 31-15 run to build a 37-21 cushion.
"The last five minutes of the first half were very flat for us," Tiger coach Sondra Chadwick said. "We were not defending the interior well and offensively, we did not take care of the ball. We stressed at halftime our need to help on the inside and to be more aggressive offensively."
The Tigers heeded their coaches' advice and played much better after the break. They closed the gap to five points with two minutes to play but East Ridge made their free throws down the stretch to stretch its lead.
"Other than that 5 minute run, we outplayed a very good team," Chadwick said. "The girls need to
understand that if we can limit these lapses, we can compete against some very
good teams.
"We talked about being able to sustain our level of play and being both
mentally and physically tougher. That’s what it will take for us to succeed
in the second round of conference play."
Sofia Chadwick topped the Farmington scoring charts with a game-high 20 points, eight assists and five rebounds.
Abby Gallus and Jordyn Homeier each finished with nine points and Alicia Hett chipped in with seven.
Gallus defended East Ridge's leading scorer Jamie Swanson and limited her to seven points. Hett added four steals and strong defensive effort.
The loss dropped back the Tigers' season record to 9-10. Tuesday they will take their 4-4 Missota Conference record to New Prague. Friday they take on Holy Angels in Richfield.
