Yesterday’s away game against Jefferson City high school (JCHS) ended in a loss for the RBHS girls’ basketball team. Though throughout all four quarters the gap in points was less than eight, the score ultimately ended at (51-47) in favor of the Jays. This game is the third defeat in a row, bringing the Bruins’ season record to [14-7].   
Senior guard Katey Klucking sees the team’s mistakes and strives to improve for upcoming games, the closest one being next Wednesday versus Miller Career Academy.
“Boxing out and free throws were definitely our biggest challenge. It has been the biggest thing the past few games,” Klucking said. “We as a team need to start boxing out and staying late to shoot free throws.”
The peak of the Bruins’ game was when they managed to tie it up (47-47) at the 1:52 minute mark during the fourth quarter. Klucking believes in terms of strategy they executed well. For strengths, she points to three-point baskets, steals and deflections.
“Most of our team is made up of guards so we heavily rely on the three-point shot because honestly getting blocked by a 6’4 post gets old at times,” Klucking said. “With that being said, we tried to look to hit some pull up jumpers and pull the [JCHS’s] posts out so we could have a dump-down layup to our own posts. For the most part I thought we penetrated pretty well.”
Last year the girls’ basketball team secured the victory versus Jefferson City in a similarly tense game with a score of 41-39. Coach Jill Nagel looks to their competition history, recognizing the caliber of both teams means no side had a secure or automatic victory.
“Jeff City is a friendly but intense rivalry game. Both teams are very good and do a good job of limiting their opponents strengths,” Nagel said. “For us, we needed to make sure we covered their talented bigs inside but also [stay] attentive to a playmaking point guard. We did a decent job covering all their offensive weapons but gave up too many offensive rebounds.”
According to maxpreps.com RBHS sits in the number 13 spot for Missouri. With three games left until districts, the Bruins have a few chances to bump their record before vying for the state title. Nagel plans to use all the time she can to help improve the team.
“We did some nice things offensively and our kids play so hard defensively that we always give ourselves a chance,” Nagel said. “We now turn our attention to improving upon our recent games and making the appropriate adjustments. Each day is a great day to get better and that is our focus.”
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