Girls BB: Early lead fades in two-point loss

Sofia Chadwick 23 points, 4 assists, 4 steals (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Early on, the Tigers were sitting in the driver's seat with an 18-3 lead but when all was said and done they remained winless in the Missota Conference after a 49-47 loss to Northfield Tuesday night at Tiger Gym.

The defeat left Farmington (2-17) with an 0-8 mark in the conference. Northfield (6-12) is 1-7 in the Missota.

"We played aggressive defense, forced some turnovers and knocked down our shots," Tiger coach Sondra Chadwick said of her team's quick start.

"Then we ran into foul trouble on the interior and our leading rebounder (Kaitlyn Gorden) went to the bench for 10 minutes. That really hurt us."

Even with the foul troubles, however, the Tigers hit the halftime break with a 26-22 lead. Sophomore guard Sofia Chadwick led the first half effort with 16 points.

While the Tigers were following their game plan of stopping the Raiders' tandem of 6-2 post players, the Raider guards started to heat up from the perimeter in the second period.

"We executed well against their bigs, but they hit outside shots that we were daring them to take," coach Chadwick said.

Gorden, who finished with a team-high seven rebounds, fouled out with three minutes to play but Farmington still trailed by only three points with 20 seconds remaining in regulation.

The Tigers attempt for a tie fell short with five seconds to play and the Raiders stretched their lead to five with a couple of free throws. Chadwick's three-pointer at the buzzer brought the final deficit back to a basket.

Abby Gallus 15 points (photo by Jim Lindquist)

"I was proud of how we executed or game plan," Chadwick said. "That has been an issue for us...We also did well against their height and I liked how we pushed the ball in transition."

Chadwick finished with 23 points and Abby Gallus pumped in 15 to account for almost all of the Farmington offense. Chadwick also handed out four assists and came up with four steals. Gallus finished with thee assists.

Next up for the Tigers is a road Game Friday at Shakopee. The Sabers won the first meeting between the two teams 57-43.