Warriors girls fall apart against Bridgeport

DALTON — When everything was going right Tuesday night for the Leyton High School girls’ basketball team, the Warriors flourished.

When things fell apart, Rol Rushman’s team struggled.

Mightily.

Leading visiting Bridgeport 11-3 at the end of the first period, LHS was outscored 41-20 the rest of the way in a 44-31 non-conference loss.

Poor shooting and a lack of ball handling proved to be the undoing of the Warriors.

“Turnovers killed us, and after Bridgeport got off to a slow start, they really turned it on last half of the second quarter on,” Rushman said. “They have six seniors who really play well together.”

Leyton (5-4) still led 15-8 early in the second quarter, but the Lady Bulldogs (5-5) got to rolling behind the play of Tara Harding and Sydney Faessler.

Bridgeport was able to trim the margin to 19-17 at halftime, and when Faessler opened the third period with a 3-point basket — giving the Bulldogs a 20-17 lead — Leyton never drew even.

Leyton encountered all types of problems trying to solve Bridgeport’s pressure, and numerous miscues led to easy transition points for the Bulldogs.

“I thought we might try harder at not turning it over,” Rushman said, but give Bridgeport credit for putting on the pressure. We had some shots that fell out early in the first half, then we had some execution problems, plays that we are normally sharp at, but it seemed like we’d break in the wrong direction a lot. I guess we’ll have to work on those things in practice.”

Leyton’s Kelsey Waite kept the game close at 23-21 with a putback of her own miss, but Bridgeport went on a 9-2 burst to close out the third quarter with a 32-23 advantage.

The Warriors couldn’t make a dent in the deficit late, as turnovers and a meager 3 of 14 performance at the foul line enabled the visitors to maintain a double-digit lead .

“We’re shooting about 55 percent for the year,” Rushman said. “So maybe if we make 55 percent tonight, we make it closer by four points or so. But we have to shoot free throws better than that.”

Faessler, who bagged a trio of 3-pointers, led all scorers with 11 points. Rachael Ernest scored 10 points for Leyton.

Leyton hosts Cheyenne County rival Potter-Dix Friday evening.

Bridgeport 44, Leyton 31

Bridgeport 3 13 16 12—44

Leyton 11 6 6 8—31

Bridgeport (5-5): Faessler 4 0-0 11, Harding 2 4-6 8, Dudden 3 1-2 7, Cantu 3 0-0 6, Aguilar 3 0-0 6, JKildow 1 2-4 4, Huck 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 7-12 44

Leyton (5-4): RErnest 5 0-0 10, Lukesh 3 0-0 6, KErnest 2 1-2 5, KWaite 2 0-4 4, Berner 1 1-6 3, CRushman 1 1-2 3. Totals 14 3-14 31

3-point goals — Bridgeport 3 (Faessler 3). Team fouls — Bridgeport 10, Leyton 9