Article & Photo by Wade Bell, Clarion News The Crawford County girls' basketball team went into its game last Tuesday against host North Harrison a player short after its starting point guard Abie Adams was involved in a vehicle crash earlier in the day and was unable to play due to a possible concussion. That meant somebody had to step up to fill that role left by Adams’ absence. For the Lady Pack, the entire team picked up its game, which, unfortunately, was marred by a total of 48 turnovers by both teams and put away the Lady Cats in a 51-36 win. “It was an ugly game, but that’s the way we wanted it to be,” said Crawford County coach Chris Broughton. “I am so proud of our defense that we played. We were scrappy. We were getting after it. I’m just so proud of our defensive effort. We knew without having Abie tonight that it was going to take turning it up on the defensive end, and I feel like we did that. We just chased them around all night.” Top Videos: Third judge approves unsealing of Epstein grand jury materials “Too many turnovers,” said North Harrison coach Dakota Brooks. “We talked about it going into this game, and it’s kind of been the point of emphasis so far this season. We’ve got girls with not a whole lot of experience, but I told them that is becoming obsolete because you’ve got four varsity basketball games under your belts. "It’s just getting those girls to be confident in their abilities," he said. "They do great things in practice. It’s challenging them to turn those things in practice into the game. That’s kind of what we have to do as a coaching staff and get those girls more confident and translate that into the game.” Neither team had a great first quarter. The Lady Pack had just one turnover in the first eight minutes but only connected on two of their 16 field-goal attempts. North Harrison, meanwhile, had seven turnovers in the quarter and put in three of its nine attempts from the field as the two teams played to a 9-9 tie. “The first quarter, really, we’d get a defensive rebound and throw it right to (Emery) Stroud,” said Brooks. “We talked about that. It’s not just panicking and keeping our composure and keeping to the game plan that we bring into the game.” “We felt like getting the game going up and down suited us,” Broughton said. “We felt like that was going to be our strength. The game did get a little crazy, and I thought we took some shots we didn’t want to take. I think it was worth it to speed the game up and get them to shoot shots they’re not accustomed to shooting.” Olivia Brown gave the Lady Cats the lead to start the second period with a three-ball. Fouls quickly became a factor with Crawford County’s Kaylee Lamar being called for her third and Sylvia Ferriell her second. On North Harrison’s side, the Lady Cats lost a scoring tool when Brown was called for her third foul. The Lady Cats held the edge until the Lady Pack went on an 11-0 run to lead 22-14 with Stroud and Adison Pollock drilling back-to-back threes. Grace Goldman gave the Lady Cats a pair of free throws, but Payton Stephenson drilled a three for Crawford County in return as the Lady Pack took a 25-16 lead to the locker room at halftime. “We just wanted to chase (Goldman) around wherever she was and just make her work for every shot she could get,” Broughton said. “You’re not going to hold a good player down and keep her from scoring or keep at two or four, just try to make her work for everything. We took Sylvia. We took Brynn (Ingle). We took Adi (Pollock) and Payton and kept running different people. ‘Let’s take you out and give you a break and then you have your turn at her.’ I thought we really wore her down by doing that.” “We talked all week about not letting (Stroud) get loose,” Brooks said. “She’s a great player. Christopher has had her for four years or probably even longer in middle school. She’s just a good player. We just can’t let her drive straight to the basket. We did a good job at times, but too often we just kind of lost her and had some miscommunication.” The third quarter was a storm of turnovers by both teams with Crawford County losing the ball eight times while North Harrison coughed up the ball 11 times in the eight minutes. Halfway through the period, Crawford County’s foul situation got worse with Ferriell and Lexie Wright both being called for their fourth fouls. Crawford County had a double-digit lead through the period as the quarter ended with the Lady Pack up 35-24. “Their pressure kind of flustered us a little bit,” said Brooks. “We’ve just got to get better with the basketball. Every game we’ve had one quarter where we turn it over a lot or have a really lopsided quarter. It was the Charlestown and South Central games and, obviously, tonight it was the third quarter where they pressured us a little bit.” Crawford County pulled away at the beginning of the fourth quarter with a 6-0 burst for a 41-24 lead. Brown drilled a three, but Stroud countered with six, Crawford County’s lead at 47-27. Brown drilled two more threes, but the clock was against the Lady Cats as Crawford County went on to win 51-36. “I’m just so proud of the whole team,” Broughton said. “I’m so proud of Emmy being able to do that and be our leader and our go-to person. We had Adi Pollock step up and hit a three. Payton Stephenson scored the ball. Sylvia was scoring the ball. Kaylee Lamar. We got it from everybody tonight, and that’s what it takes.” Stroud led the Lady Pack with 29 points for the night. Crawford County had a poor shooting night, hitting just 12 of 49 from the field (24%) but made up for it at the charity stripe, connecting on 23 of 30 free-throw attempts. Crawford County finished with 17 turnovers for the game. “Huge,” Broughton said of Stroud. “That’s what your seniors have to do for you. She just put us on her back. Without Abie, she was probably going to have to step up her scoring a little more. We knew she had to handle the basketball, and that’s something she’s capable of doing but hasn’t had to do.” The Crawford County coach also praised sophomore Stephenson for filling Adams’ spot. “Payton is one we’ve got to have,” said Broughton. “We have to have her. She’s a great player. We’ve got to get her to understand what we’re doing and, once we do that, the sky is the limit for her. She’s getting better every single game, and what she’s done the last couple of games is just go play, go rebound, go get after it, get after it on defense. That’s what she’s doing, and it’s really helping us.” Goldman and Brown shared scoring honors for the Lady Cats with 14 points each. The Lady Cats put in 11 of 36 field goals (31%) and 9 of 13 free throws. North Harrison turned the ball over 31 times. “We knew Grace was a fantastic player,” Broughton said. “We wanted to make her work for everything. I thought we really pressured when we needed to pressure. We got in the passing lanes, and the biggest thing I liked that a lot of people forget about is, when you played good defense, you’ve got to finish it off with a rebound. I thought we did that for the most part.” “Grace does a lot and is a good player, but she can’t do it all every single trip down the court,” said Brooks. “It’s just getting them to believe. Lillian Burks did a great job tonight; it might be one of her best games handling the basketball. It’s just bringing those guards out of that and getting them confident with their abilities to handle the ball and handle the pressure. That kind of opens it up for Grace and get some of our other players to look to score.” Brooks said right now what his team needs for confidence is a win. “A win, obviously, cures a lot of things,” he said. “We’re doing a lot of good things that we weren’t doing in June. We’ve learned and got better, even from game one. We’re doing a lot of things to handle pressure and girls cutting to spots we’ve coached them to cut to. It’s just a process and getting confidence and having them believe and just be tough with the ball.” Crawford County 9 16 10 16 - 51 North Harrison 9 7 8 12 - 36 Crawford County - Stroud 29, Stephenson 7, Ingle 4, Pollock 3, Ferriell 2, Lamar 2, Marples 2, Wright 2. North Harrison - Brown 14, Goldman 14, Book 4, Chatman 3, Emmons 1. 3-point goals - Crawford County 4 (Stroud 2, Pollock 1, Stephenson 1); North Harrison 5 (Brown 4, Goldman 1).