Dec. 18—With a young roster, the Tahlequah Lady Tiger basketball team is focusing on learning and improving through the first four games of the season.
Even though THS has lost its last two matchups, the players have pieced together a 2-2 start. The brightrdy spot has been how the Lady Tigers have started to play better as games have gone on. Win or lose, head coach David Qualls has seen his players adapt.
The Lady Tigers lost 66-33 Tuesday, Dec. 17, at Will Rogers, but they showed improvements in the second half.
“Anytime this group plays, they are going to learn from it,” Qualls said. “We lost over 98% of our scoring from last year, so any varsity rep win or loss is going to be crucial. Getting better is our main goal; it is not wins or losses.”
Early in the game, the Lady Ropers used a strong press defense to overwhelm the Lady Tigers. During the first half, the Lady Ropers used fast break layups, turnovers and second-chance layups to take a 45-12 lead going into halftime.
A big cold stretch in the second quarter was key in the Lady Tigers’ big deficit.
“I thought we competed for three quarters,” Qualls said. “We were down eight going into the second quarter and it just got away from us. I thought our half-court defense was really good, but we struggled with turnovers. We had a stretch where we just didn’t handle the pressure really well.”
Coming out of the locker room, the Lady Tigers looked like a completely different team as they handled the Lady Roper’s pressure much better. After falling to a 32-point defeat in the first half, THS gave up just 21 second-half points.
THS’ improved play started in the third quarter. Will Rogers couldn’t get its offense clicking, and they were limited to just seven points in the quarter. At the same time, THS picked up seven points. THS handled the Lady Ropers’ press well and reduced their second-chance shots.
“We did a good job contesting shots, and the main thing we did was take care of the ball better in the third quarter,” Qualls said. “They got a lot of points on layups on rebounds and we did a better job of limiting that in the third quarter.”
THS’ getting better as the game goes on has been a trend, as has struggling in the second quarter. THS is focusing on improving their play to piece together four competitive quarters.
Going forward, the Lady Tigers are going to have a new test: playing on short rest. They will have around just 48 hours from stepping off the court until their next challenge at Tulsa Memorial on Thursday, Dec. 19. Until this point, they didn’t have to play on a short turnaround.
“We are just learning how to be varsity basketball players, going on the road on Tuesday night and getting a Monday prep,” Qualls said. “Then we’re having to recover tomorrow and playing again Thursday, when you don’t have experience, yet you don’t know that grind of the season. I think the best thing is that we play again in 48 hours.”
THS kicks off action at 6 p.m. against Tulsa Memorial on Thursday, Dec. 19.
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