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Shooting again the issue for SH girls, Garcia scores 7 in loss to Gilbert

GILBERT – The offensive rebounds and second-chance points allowed were glaring. But when all is said and done, none of it – not the rebounds, the turnovers, the fouls, etc. – means much if a team cannot put the ball in the basket.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the 10,000-pound elephant in the South Hamilton girls’ basketball team’s locker room.

For the fifth time in as many outings, the Hawks failed to reach 20 percent shooting in a lopsided loss to Gilbert, 49-22, Friday night in Heart of Iowa Conference action.

South Hamilton (0-5, 0-4 HOIC) connected on just 8 of 44 attempts (18 percent) and is shooting just 17 percent on the season (41 of 244).

“It comes down to putting the ball in the basket,” South Hamilton head coach Tony Woodall said. “We just missed too many shots.”

The offensive woes were glaring late in the second quarter and throughout the third. The Hawks went 11 minutes between points and more than 12 minutes between field goals. Gilbert scored the initial 13 points of the second half to put the game out of reach.

“You saw our problems in the third quarter,” Woodall said. “You can’t go blank.”

Autymn Olson ended the drought at the free throw line with 6:17 remaining in the fourth quarter, and 17 seconds later Bree Hodnefield brought relief from the field when she drained a mid-range jumper from the wing. But by then Gilbert (5-3, 5-0 HOIC) had built a 42-16 edge.

Diana Garcia led South Hamilton with seven points and two assists. Hodnefield added four points and five rebounds, and Anna Moss chipped in two free throws and five steals.

South Hamilton was up to the challenge early on and pulled to within one point of the Tigers, 10-9, on a Garcia 3-pointer from the wing with 2:20 remaining in the first quarter.

Trinity Jackson rained in a triple just before the buzzer for the Tigers, who went on to outscore South Hamilton 12-4 in the second quarter to take a 29-13 lead into the intermission.

A Garcia runner midway through the second was the lone field goal for the Hawks in the period.

“I thought we played a very good first half,” Woodall said. “Our whole game plan was to attack the basket and attack their bigs, and I think we did a good job of doing that.”

Where South Hamilton couldn’t get a handle on Gilbert’s interior players was on the offensive glass. The Tigers piled up 28 offensive rebounds on the night, 15 of them coming in the first half that led to 16 second-chance points.

“I’m not sure they made a basket in the first half on a first shot,” Woodall said. “That surprised me because the last game we did a very good job of boxing out. This is the first time we’ve been out rebounded this season.”

Gilbert forwards Sarah Hinners and Lauren Rosburg were responsible for the bulk of the offensive caroms; they finished with 12 and six points, respectively. Kenzie Miller, Livvy Hampton and Tate Powers all added six points as well for the Tigers.

South Hamilton will be back at home on Tuesday to host CMB at 6 p.m.

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