» Lady Braves drop two more games

The good news is: The Lady Braves scored more points at home against Rogue River Friday than they have in any game since their last win, when they bested the Taft Tigers on Dec. 22.

The bad news is: The Lady Braves are on a 10-game losing streak. The 59-37 loss to Rogue River was preceded by a 50-29 loss to Myrtle Point three days earlier.

But that’s OK, according to head coach Lynn Fulps.

The last time Reedsport took on Rogue River, the girls lost by 54 points, 85-31, Fulps said, “So this time (losing by 22 points) was much better. ... They’re very young, and they really are getting a little better with their basic skills every week.”

He praised the girls’ efforts, saying “It was the best effort, team-wise, that I’ve seen from them all year. ... If the parents, the town and the students will just stay the course with us, I think we’ll have a lot of success in the future.”

Freshman Madison Richardson was a standout last week, scoring 9 points in each of the Braves’ games. In fact, she was the team’s top point-maker against Myrtle Point. Richardson has rarely contributed more than a couple of points per game, but has been showing steady improvement recently.

Last Tuesday in Myrtle Point, the Lady Braves bettered their record a little against a tough, much older team. Instead of losing to the Bobcats by 24 points, as they had on Jan. 19, they lost by 21 — and could have done better if they’d taken advantage of more scoring opportunities, including their trips to the free-throw line, Fulps reported.

“It wasn’t our best effort of the year, but we played OK,” he said.

Half of Myrtle Point’s score came from two players: Marissa McCrorey, with 13 points and Shirah Stidham with 12. Half of Reedsport’s points came from  Richardson with 9 and Eden Huebner with 6.

A bright spot last week, Fulps said, was that the Lady Braves junior varsity team won their game against Myrtle Point 31-26. Gina Legg led the scoring with 8 points — including 6 of 8 free throws — followed by Rececca Hinshaw with 7 points and Yatchna Bhaktu with 6. As a team, the JV team landed 15 of 24 free throws, while the Rogue River JV made 3 of 7.

“Last time we played them we got beat by 43 points. ... (So) we’re definitely improving,” he said.

Coming up

The girls take on the Coquille Red Devils at home this Friday at 6 p.m., with junior varsity games starting at 4:30 p.m. They travel to Bandon for a 6 p.m. game on Tuesday, and host the Cascade Christian Challengers in the final home game of the season next Friday. The final game is set for Monday, Feb. 15, in Gold Beach.