By Fred Kroner
Heritage played its first – and only – home game of the girls’ junior varsity basketball season on Tuesday (Dec. 7) and dropped a 19-14 decision to Georgetown-Ridge Farm.
The Hawks held the visitors scoreless in the third quarter and outscored the Buffaloes, 11-4, after halftime.
Adena Paul grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds for Heritage. She scored four points and had a team-high two assists.
The Hawks’ top scorer was Gracie Tate, with six points. She also cleared six rebounds and contributed one steal and one assist.
Courtney Sanford had matching totals of four points, four rebounds and four steals. Sanford also had one assist.
Mykayla Thomas chipped in with four rebounds, three steals and one assist.
Team captain Paige George suffered a knee injury in the final 30 seconds.
Coach Kami Hetman found several bright spots.
“Sophomore Courtney Sanford was incredible on both sides of the court tonight, even if the numbers may not show it,” Hetman said. “Defensively, I could not be happier with her performance.”
Hetman saw a huge difference in her squad after intermission.
“Turnovers hurt us badly in the first half, but in the second half we handled the ball much better and almost came back to win it,” Hetman said.
One aspect stood out from the outset.
“Our girls came out with a lot of energy,” Hetman said. “Both teams played hard and it was a fun game to watch and to coach.”
The Heritage JV (0-4) returns to action on Thursday at Arcola.
