By Seth Thompson
The Chronicle
COTTAGE GROVE – Lions girls basketball coach Kim Beer and his team were on a roll entering their fourth game of the season last Wednesday night against Cascade. With landslide victories in all three of their prior games – with the lowest margin-of-victory a 30-point-win over Scio – Beer and the Lions met their match in the Cougars, falling 63-47.
Despite the loss, Beer said he’s happy with his team and is focusing on the Battle of I-5 tournament to continue their development.
“They’re better at this point than I expected, and sure, there’s some things we need to work on,” Beer said. “We’ve had a few more turnovers than we should have and the starting five had to put out a lot of energy, but as the season goes on they’re going to get in better shape. I can’t really say anything bad about them, though. I think they played with heart the entire game and I can’t expect anything bigger than that.”
Freshman wing Madison Stuhlmiller led the Lions with 14 points, knocking down three 3-pointers.
“We’ve probably had to look to her more than we should as a freshman, but I think she’s handling it pretty well and I think she’s gonna mature as the season goes on,” Beer said. “As a freshman trying to get us out of trouble at times, she really does a respectable job.”
Although Stuhlmiller was able to find scoring opportunities, the Lions were stifled by the Cougars’ aggressive defense. Cascade utilized a full-court press throughout the game on Wednesday, a defense the Lions had limited experience facing.
For Beer, the game serves as a learning experience for the Lions. As they prepare to face tougher defenses in their upcoming games, the Lions must learn how to handle the pressure, he said.
“We’ve had full-court presses on us, but they were good at it, there’s no doubt about it. We handled it pretty well at times, and then at times we would panic a little, but that doesn’t surprise me at this point in the season,” Beer said.
“That was a really good game for us, because I think that that’s gonna help prepare us for some league games that are coming.”
Beer said he plans to focus on perimeter defense for his team. On Wednesday the Lions gave up nine 3-pointers in the second half alone, turning a game tied at 21 at halftime into a double-digit victory for the Cougars. This is a statistic Beer wants to cut down on before league play as he noted the amount of good shooters in the Sky-Em league.
Going forward the Lions will participate in – and co-host – the Battle of I-5 tournament. Their first opponent is the Pleasant Hill Billies at CGHS.
