Lady Jays suffer first loss in last five games

Heading into the new year, the Three Lakes-Phelps girls basketball team held a four-game win streak before falling in a tight 33-29 battle in a Northern Lakes Conference game at Florence, 33-29, last Friday.
In a first half where the Lady Jays scored only 10 points, the Florence team used its press defense and mistakes from Three Lakes to take the 19-10 lead after 18 minutes.
“Turnovers were a key factor. We need to get a handle on that to get back to our winning ways,” said TLP head coach Rich Javenkoski after the loss. “The team defensively played well as a whole.”
Florence never really let up on the defensive end, as the Bobcats pressured the junior guards of TLP in the backcourt for a full game. “Pretty much pressed us the whole game and that was a factor,” stated Javenkoski.
Despite trailing by nine, the team’s defensive effort was there to keep it a low-scoring game, which gave TLP a chance offensively to make a run in the second half. Things did flip toward the Jays in the second, gaining momentum and cutting the deficit down to two late in the game.
TLP outscored Florence 19-14 in the second, but late free throws by the home Bobcats, who shot 7-of-20 from the charity stripe, sealed the win.
Javenkoski said that junior Libby Eppler played her best game of the season, showing versatility on both sides of the floor. “Libby Eppler played her best game of the season, both offensively and defensively. Her intensity was great.”
TLP returned to play Tuesday with a home game with Rhinelander before two away games at Phillips Thursday, Jan. 9, and at Crandon Monday, Jan. 13. Both games are slated for 7:15 p.m.
Javenkoski mentioned that the team is focused on another game where the opposition will likely pressure them in the backcourt. He also said they went toe-to-toe with the Hodags last year, so they hope to come out with a win.
“When we played Rhinelander last year, we played head-to-head with them. Hopefully, we can duplicate that and keep moving forward.”