Cougars still missing some seasoning
By Rex Overholser

Carroll's Lady Cougars looked flat and dug a familiar hole in the first 2 quarters against Clinton Prairie. The Cougars only managed 10 points in the first half against a pesky bunch of Gophers who were led by Aimee Newhart (10), Whitney Molberg (12), and Stacey Jarrett (12).

The Cougars are still desperately seeking the right seasoning and combination of players who want to help each other win games. In the preface for the year, the evolution has quickly come to some soul searching. This early part of the season had some scheduling advantages where the Lady Cougars could claw at some victories. At 1-3 for the season, the winning needs to come quickly and the girls' confidence in themselves and each other needs some microwaved zest.

The Gophers played aggressively and with spunk as they slashed and dashed their way into the paint to score points in the first half, taking a 21-10 lead at halftime and building it to 17 points until late in the fourth quarter when their younger players were playing. The final score was 45-36, but the game was not as close as the final score. The Cougars appeared to be going through the motions as they seemed to be watching the game at times. The Cougars could only muster 16 rebounds with Ashley Miller (8) and Jaimie McCarter and Overholser with 3 rebounds. The Cougars were led by Krystal Brazel (8) points with 2 three pointers. Carroll's depth was shown through the bench scoring of Brooke Yoder (8), Abby Reinke (7) and Overholser (3) - matching the scoring of the starters with less than 15 minutes of individual playing time. Trying to focus on the positives would be to give a strong thumbs up for the energy and scoring provided by the bench play by Yoder and Reinke. The other key factor was the 6-11 shooting beyond the 3-point line. The Cougars had a higher 3-point shooting percentage than they did from inside the line.

The 3-point shooting and running ability of the Cougars are going to have to be relied upon for this team to start winning games. They are smaller than most teams they will play. The Cougars have a chance to gain back important momentum with games against Vikings at North White on Thursday, and then again at home against Pioneer on Saturday. Carroll dropped to 0-1 in the Hoosier Heartland conference and 1-3 for the young season. Clinton Prairie improved to 2-2 and 2-0 in the conference.

The Carroll JV went to 3-1 in their season as Coach Seward's team dominated the game from start to finish with an easy 39-19 win. Lucie Zook (10), Sarah Griffin (8), and Amber Hughes (7) led the Cougars from start to finish.