Friday’s home game against Blair Oaks was a much-anticipated event, with games starting at 3 p.m. and rolling until after 10, with the conclusion of the boys varsity game. The Lady Comets watched as their JV teammates pulled out a win, and the atmosphere was charged as the varsity squad took the floor for the first time in several weeks.

“Before the game I told them to look around and see all the people,” said Coach Matt Baker. “There are a lot of schools that don’t get nights like this, with a lot of support. I think this will pay off down the road when the girls realize they’ve played in big games with big crowds, and it won’t be a factor.”

Despite the great crowd support, the Lady Comets lost 48-37, but they didn’t go down without a fight.

“This was a tough game,” said Baker. “We haven’t played for three weeks, so it was tough to get our rhythm. We knew what they were going to do, and we couldn’t stop it, which is frustrating, but the girls played hard and I’m pleased with the effort.”

The Lady Falcons’ defense was stifling and held Fatima to seven points in each the first and second quarter, which made for a challenge as the Lady Comets faced a 26-14 halftime deficit.

But then came the third quarter.

“We had a great third quarter,” said Baker. “Karli carried us, really.”

During that eight-minute span, the Lady Comets caught fire as Karli Struemph found a way to get it done both with passing and shooting, as she was fouled on two made baskets, converting both free-throws during a 15-5 run that gave Fatima a 31-29 lead going into the fourth quarter. She finished with 16 points, including a 9-11 stretch at the stripe, and three assists.

“The girls executed well,” said Baker. “Karli found open shooters, but the shots didn’t fall. It was just a bad night.”

Fatima hit 7-18 from the short floor and went 3-21 from the outside, finishing with an overall shooting mark of 25.6%. From the line, the Lady Comets covered 14-20.

Morgan Luebbering was held to seven points, including a 3-5 mark at the line, while Taylor Bexten put in five points to go with four from Lauren Brandt, a trey from Lucy Williams and two points from Dani Stegeman. Luebbering, Londyn Stuckenschneider, Brandt and Bexten each added an assist.

Struemph also led with five rebounds as Luebbering collected four, Stegeman, Stuckenschneider and Brandt each had two, and Williams and Ellie Brune pitched in with one apiece.

On the night, Struemph finished with three steals, with two more by Bexten.

Baker said youth played a factor in the game.

“We’re just so young, and it’s hard for me to keep that in perspective,” said Baker. “They’re going to just have to fight through it and stay focused. We’re going through growing pains, and hopefully we’ll figure it out.”

In other grand scheme of things, Baker said the loss probably puts Fatima in a four or five seed situation for districts. “It’s not the end of the world,” he added, but said the second half of the season will be a challenge.

“From here on out it just gets harder. We’re going to have to keep fighting and find our shots.

We’re getting good looks, they’re just not going in right now.”

In the JV game, the Lady comets beat Blair Oaks 26-17.

“Overall this was a great team win,” said Coach John Fick. “Our girls are very unselfish with the ball and have improved on moving it quicker against the defense. There are still little things that we all need to work on, but I’m very impressed with how our girls have played especially coming off of Christmas break.”

On the offensive end, Anna Eichholz lead the team in scoring with 11 points. “She’s a tough little guard that’s hard to stop,” said Fick. “She’s had the ability to get to the rim all year and finish or pass it off to some of our bigs for easy looks.”

Lydia Brunnert added seven points. “She took an elbow to the face early in the game and I think that sort of woke her up a little bit and brought some energy to the team,” said Fick.

“She was fighting for every rebound, making some tough layups and causing some turnovers for Blair Oaks on the defensive end.”

Emma Bower added three, Emma Kleffner and Victoria Nivens posted two apiece, and Claire Bexten finished with one.

Defensively, Fick said the girls did a good job of keeping Blair Oaks’ guards in front of them not giving them to many open looks.

“Where we struggled in the first half was not putting a body on someone and getting a rebound,” he added.

“Blair Oaks was just more physical than us early on in the game, which was how they got so easy putbacks off of offensive rebounds. We cleaned that up in the second half and ultimately I believe that’s what won us the basketball game.”