By Quintin Harlan, Herald Bulletin Sports Writer
LAPEL — “A man’s got to know his limitations.” Clint Eastwood as Harry Callahan.
Lapel girls basketball coach Kevin Brattain must have seen the 1973 film “Magnum Force” a few times because he knows the limitations of his squad.
Brattain and the Bulldogs know that they’re not a high-powered offense. Lapel averages just over 45 points per contest.
That trend reappeared on Saturday afternoon as the Bulldogs dropped a 56-44 decision to Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter for the Bulldogs’ first loss in Indiana Crossroads Conference play.
“We lost the game in the first half. We were flat and played with no enthusiasm,” said Brattain. “We’re no offensive juggernaut, there’s no doubt about that. Half-court wise, we just didn’t get anything done. We’re just very limited in what we can do offensively.”
Lapel managed only 14 points as a team in the first half. Their prospects in the early going of the second half took a hit when leading scorer Leah Steele missed the bulk of the third quarter with an illness.
“When you only score 14 points at halftime of a varsity basketball game, you’re not going to win very many of those,” said Brattain. “Then you come back and score 30 in the second half which is more what we’d like to see.”
With Steele on the bench, Lapel fell behind by 20 points. Once the junior forward returned to the floor, Lapel climbed back into the game with a 10-0 run over the end of the third and start of the fourth.
“I thought we played better in the second half,” said Brattain. “We got kids that play hard. I thought Leah Steele played real well. She got sick there at the start of the third quarter and that really hurt us.”
The Bulldogs cut the Raiders lead to 11 points at 40-29 but could get no closer as the Raiders put the game away with a 6-0 run late in the game to account for the final score.
The game opened with Lapel taking an early 5-2 lead on the Raiders. Ritter answered with a 12-3 scoring run to close out the first quarter.
Lapel had only one player reach double figures in scoring for the game, as Steele scored a game-high 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field. Senior guard Kourtney Allender was next with nine points.
“We knew we’d have some issues coming in to the season. But we were going to try to do what we can and keep the games close,” said Brattain. “
Ritter had a trio reach double figures in scoring, led by the 16 points from forward Kayla Battle.
Anita Hernandez and Aimee Sickmeier each scored 14 points for the visitors.
Lapel (2-5 and 0-1 ICC) will host Eastern Hancock on Tuesday.
