By Erik Harris
HOOVER – A one-point second quarter that contributed to a 12-point first half all but guaranteed Hewitt-Trussville to start its Class 7A, Region 6 schedule off with a loss at Spain Park on Tuesday night.
Offense didn’t come much easier for the Lady Huskies out of the break as they dropped their region opener 61-30.
The slow start put Hewitt-Trussville in a 31-12 hole that couldn’t be escaped.
“You can draw up any play, you can do anything you want to, but you have to come out with more intensity than what we did,” said Hewitt-Trussville head coach Tonya Hunter.
Cayla Dillard led the visitors with 13 points, but was neutralized by the Lady Jaguars in the second half. Fellow guard Gabby Hill was active late, scoring nine second-half points.
With a large deficit to overcome, Hunter’s girls looked to the 3-ball in the final 16 minutes, but were unable to connect on any of their eight attempts.
Spain Park managed to connect on four 3-pointers over that time frame. Maggie Baldwin got the shot party started with a make from the wing midway through the third quarter, and later shut it down with a deep one in the fourth quarter.
Elizabeth Philpot also connected from behind the arc to stretch the Lady Jaguar lead to 44-17 with 3:00 remaining in the third quarter. She went for a game-high 18points.
“I felt like we covered the three in the first half really well, but in the paint we didn’t do a good job defensively,” Hunter said.
The Lady Huskies will get back to region play on Friday night at Vestavia Hills.