Kruse's 20 not enough for Lady Crusaders

FORT MADISON - There is progress, Holy Trinity girls basketball coach Shawn Hopper said, in how his young team is playing.
“We’ll get there,” Hopper said after Friday’s 50-40 loss to West Burlington at Shottenkirk Gym. “I wish we could there a little quicker.”
The Crusaders (0-4 overall, 0-3 SEISC South Division) have just one senior and two juniors, and that youth and inexperience has shown in the first two weeks of the season.
Holy Trinity never got a chance to get a footing in this game — the Crusaders scored the first four points and then surrendered a 17-2 run to the Falcons (4-1, 3-0), whose first five field goals were 3-pointers.
“I didn’t like our defensive effort in the first quarter,” Hopper said. “We knew they were going to bomb from outside, but we were really weak getting through their screens and that allowed them to get open. And then against their press, we didn’t let the game come to us and we made some mistakes. If we limit their threes in the first half and cut our turnovers down, that’s a different game.”
Holy Trinity got to within 29-19 halftime, then the Falcons opened the second half by scoring 12 consecutive points. West Burlington led 43-24 at the end of the third quarter, then Hopper began switching his defense, going from a 2-3 zone to a 1-3-1, and that began to disrupt the Falcons.

“Makayla Simpson was at the top of the 1-3-1, and she’s never played there before, and she did a really good job there,” Hopper said. “I thought by switching our defenses and giving them different looks, we could take advantage of that.”
The Crusaders held the Falcons to just seven fourth-quarter points, getting to within single digits late.
“After the Danville game last Friday (a 74-21 loss), I decided we needed to simplify some things on defense for us, and I think that’s helped,” Hopper said. “You just can’t keep doing the same thing, you’ve got to switch things up, and I think that helped us make that run. We could have easily let this game get away from us, but I liked how we fought back.”
Adalyn Kruse led Holy Trinity with 20 points. Elizabeth Griffin had six points.
“We’ve got to get another scorer or two besides Adalyn,” Hopper said. “I think Elizabeth is due for a breakout game. Her younger sister Madisyn can make shots, we just need her to take some and get going. Olivia Bendlage is going to get going, she’s been sick all week. So I think it can come around for us.”
Lydia Armstrong led West Burlington with 19 points.