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012622 onalaska girls bbShaylan Linear shoots in the lane. Kaitlyn Wilson and Mary Joy Cariaga fight with a Lady Pirate for the loose ball. A.J. Pinkert is fouled on the attempt. Photos by Brian Besch

By Brian Besch
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The Onalaska Lady Cats took a 47-41 loss that came down to the final minutes Tuesday at Shepherd.

Onalaska received contributions from all over in the first quarter, as six different shooters knocked down attempts. The Lady Cats would go into the second period with a two-point advantage at 14-12.

They were held to just half that output in the second quarter, as Shepherd took a 24-21 lead into the break.

“Sometimes we get confused as sports people, because we always just look for the win on the scoreboard,” Onalaska coach Doug Boone said. “In this case, the win is seeing us grow, seeing us starting to evolve, understanding and reading defense, and building our basketball I.Q. To me, that is where the win is. Obviously, we want to get the win on the scoreboard, but we have to look for those positives. With a young team like this, seeing them start to gel and start to make the right decisions more than not was the positive that came out of that thing.”

The Lady Cats would attempt to mount a comeback in the closing minutes, but could not get enough shots to fall.

The coach said his team has grown the most with young players seeing things on the court that he wouldn’t expect from a freshman or sophomore.

“It is especially in the last couple of games, where we are taking the right shots and not trying to force the shot,” Boone said. “We are kicking it back out and seeing some really unselfish play with some of the kids that were playing maybe a little bit selfish, but not understanding that.”
Kayla Houser led the team with 10 points, while A.J. Pinkert had seven. Shaylan Linear, Destiny Lindley and Mary Joy Cariaga had six each.

Shepherd’s Grace Ramos and Tiana Clark led the team in scoring with nine apiece, while McKayden Nelson, Daci Theissen and Tanglea Yates had eight each.

“We made more shots and that is something we have been struggling with,” Shepherd coach Eldridge McAdams said. “Overall, I thought they were moving around and rotating on defense. The ones that stepped in, stepped in and played well. We will definitely take the win any way we can get it.”

Shepherd is 19-8 on the year and 5-5 in district. They are in a three-way tie for fourth place, and a couple of more wins will be necessary for the

possibility of postseason play. Anderson-Shiro leads the district, while Crockett and New Waverly are tied for second.

Up next for Shepherd is a road game at Tarkington, while Onalaska will be in Trinity on Friday.

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