AUBURN - With the amount of potential that the Auburn girls basketball team has, its record could just as easily be 4-1 at this point in the season.
Sam Tenney / The Citizen
Auburn guard Kelly Grinnell drives to the hoop during the second half of the Maroons' 63-57 loss to Corcoran at Auburn High School on Tuesday night.
Auburn guard Kelly Grinnell drives to the hoop during the second half of the Maroons' 63-57 loss to Corcoran at Auburn High School on Tuesday night.
But while that potential is surely turning into talent for the young team, the wins have been hard to come by so far this season, holding the Maroons as one of the best 1-4 teams in Section III. Auburn has the speed, a couple of sharpshooters and even a couple of tall sophomores - all of which was showcased in the team's 63-57 loss to Corcoran on Tuesday.
“We don't give up, that's for sure,” Maroons coach Gary Grinnell said. “We play hard - we've just got to get our offense going.”
Or more involved at least. Two of the league's best guards, in junior Kelly Grinnell and senior Caitlyn Jacobs, combined for 45 of the Maroons' points. Grinnell, who leads the team with 22 points per game, racked up 30 against the Cougars, including four 3-pointers. Jacobs also grabbed five steals, while Grinnell had four.
“We've got to help get Kelly some more help scoring,” Gary Grinnell said. “She's turned herself into probably one of the best players in the league, but she needs help. Cait is one of the better guards in the league, and one of the quickest, but it can't be just those two. Kelly and Cait are our leaders, since we've got three sophomores playing a lot in one of the best leagues in the state.”
The Maroons proved that they can keep up with one of the better teams when they closed the Cougars' lead to five points at the end of the first half by scoring eight in the last 1:04. With more converted free throws, the Maroons would have led going into intermission - they were 7-for-15 at the line in the first 16 minutes.
“We're not rebounding the ball very well right now,” Grinnell said. “We didn't do well with free throws in the first half, which didn't help.”
Both teams came out shooting in the second half - the difference was that most of the Maroons' attempts made it through the net. The Cougars, after converting 7-of-26 shots from the floor in the first quarter, went just 4-for-27 in the third quarter. Most of their 14 third-quarter points came from the line, where they made six trips. Four Maroons contributed to the 17 points scored in those eight minutes, including four from lanky sophomore Jeanice Freeman, who led the team with 10 rebounds.
“She's going to be a player in this league,” Grinnell said. “She's only a sophomore, but she's coming along real well.”
Four Jacobs' points in the middle of the third quarter gave the Maroons their first lead of the game, 35-32, which they stretched to 42-38 with 1:50 left in the quarter. Then, with under a minute remaining, the Cougars scored six points to regain the lead. Nadia Jackson led the team with 22 points, Akiguan Stevens tallied 15 and Irene Hudson had another 14.
“The last few games, we've been close at halftime,” Grinnell said. “We had a couple of bad shots there at the end of the quarter and it got away from us.”
Corcoran piled on another 19 points in the fourth quarter to keep the game out of Auburn's reach, and the road doesn't get any smoother for the team. The Maroons travel to play Nottingham on Thursday.
“We're getting better every game,” Grinnell said. “But for us to be a good team, Taylor Baran and Nikki Schattinger have to score more for us. If we can get those other two guards to score to take pressure off of (Kelly and Caitlyn), we're going to be a very hard team to beat. The future's real bright, but we're not giving up on this season.”
Cougars 63
Maroons 57
“We don't give up, that's for sure,” Maroons coach Gary Grinnell said. “We play hard - we've just got to get our offense going.”
Or more involved at least. Two of the league's best guards, in junior Kelly Grinnell and senior Caitlyn Jacobs, combined for 45 of the Maroons' points. Grinnell, who leads the team with 22 points per game, racked up 30 against the Cougars, including four 3-pointers. Jacobs also grabbed five steals, while Grinnell had four.
“We've got to help get Kelly some more help scoring,” Gary Grinnell said. “She's turned herself into probably one of the best players in the league, but she needs help. Cait is one of the better guards in the league, and one of the quickest, but it can't be just those two. Kelly and Cait are our leaders, since we've got three sophomores playing a lot in one of the best leagues in the state.”
The Maroons proved that they can keep up with one of the better teams when they closed the Cougars' lead to five points at the end of the first half by scoring eight in the last 1:04. With more converted free throws, the Maroons would have led going into intermission - they were 7-for-15 at the line in the first 16 minutes.
“We're not rebounding the ball very well right now,” Grinnell said. “We didn't do well with free throws in the first half, which didn't help.”
Both teams came out shooting in the second half - the difference was that most of the Maroons' attempts made it through the net. The Cougars, after converting 7-of-26 shots from the floor in the first quarter, went just 4-for-27 in the third quarter. Most of their 14 third-quarter points came from the line, where they made six trips. Four Maroons contributed to the 17 points scored in those eight minutes, including four from lanky sophomore Jeanice Freeman, who led the team with 10 rebounds.
“She's going to be a player in this league,” Grinnell said. “She's only a sophomore, but she's coming along real well.”
Four Jacobs' points in the middle of the third quarter gave the Maroons their first lead of the game, 35-32, which they stretched to 42-38 with 1:50 left in the quarter. Then, with under a minute remaining, the Cougars scored six points to regain the lead. Nadia Jackson led the team with 22 points, Akiguan Stevens tallied 15 and Irene Hudson had another 14.
“The last few games, we've been close at halftime,” Grinnell said. “We had a couple of bad shots there at the end of the quarter and it got away from us.”
Corcoran piled on another 19 points in the fourth quarter to keep the game out of Auburn's reach, and the road doesn't get any smoother for the team. The Maroons travel to play Nottingham on Thursday.
“We're getting better every game,” Grinnell said. “But for us to be a good team, Taylor Baran and Nikki Schattinger have to score more for us. If we can get those other two guards to score to take pressure off of (Kelly and Caitlyn), we're going to be a very hard team to beat. The future's real bright, but we're not giving up on this season.”
Cougars 63
Maroons 57
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