It was a tough week for the W.R. Myers Rebels varsity girls basketball team who suffered two losses in Southern Alberta High School Girls Basketball League play.
The first was a 66-38 loss at the hands of Catholic Central Cougars on the road on Friday night.
“We’re struggling. Having 30 turnovers in the first half sort of cooked our goose there. It takes away shot attempts and gives them easy opportunities on steals and so on,” said Kendon Bennett, head coach of the W.R. Myers Rebels varsity girls basketball team.
Down 40-21 at half-time, the Rebels were able to cut its turnovers down somewhat in the second half, but not enough to make a big enough dent in a comeback attempt.
Kelsie Wood had 11 points and Samantha Terry had six points with Courtney Moser adding five points to go with four assists and four rebounds. Mackenzie Bullock hit for four points to go with hauling in eight rebounds.
“We couldn’t score enough points to get back in it. We didn’t get scoring from anyone,” said Bennett. “When your second and third-leading scorers have six and five points you are struggling.”
Kate Andrews Pride came to town on Saturday and came away with a 59-37 victory over the Rebels.
“They shot really well and we shot really poorly. We were one-for-17 in the second quarter,” said Bennett. “That was the difference. It seemed like a lot of their shots were going in and we couldn’t buy  basket. It’s tough to keep the energy up and feel good about yourself and stay positive when the ball doesn’t go in the basket. It was a disappointing, hard loss.”
Wood had 13 points and five rebounds in the loss. Gabby Bertoia had eight points and six rebounds. Moser chipped in five points, three steals and two assists.
Rebels girls will have two weeks to figure out their offensive and turnover struggles as the team takes a break for school exams. The team does not return to hardcourt action until its home Rebel Classic tournament on the Feb. 1 weekend.
The team does not return to league play until a Feb. 6 road contest against Kainai Lady Warriors.
“That’s the struggle  figuring out where to go. Basketball is like that. You look at scores for an NCAA team or whatever, sometimes the ball just doesn’t go in and you have to find a way,” said Bennett. “Whether it’s through pressing or whatever to get some easy baskets and confidence and you have to practice. You have to shoot and shoot and shoot to get better at shooting and expect the ball to go in. We have our weaknesses, but we do have to have a lot of people play better which is what it comes down to.”