Plymouth plays Grinch at CG-Belgium

A 9-3 run midway through the second-half made it a two-possession game, but that’s as close as the Cedar Grove-Belgium High School girls’ basketball team could get to Plymouth on Dec. 23.

The Panthers kept a steady lead but could not turn the game into a blowout in a 47-35 win in a quieter-than-usual atmosphere two days before Christmas.

“I think we were a little mentally checked out here. It was low energy overall,” coach Nicole Depies said.

Senior Gracie Schmidt led the Rockets with 12 points on 5-for-12 shooting, seven rebounds and three steals. Kami Horn had nine points on 4-for-8 shooting and six rebounds. Arden Getschman had seven points and six rebounds.

The loss came one week after the Rockets won their first game of the year at rival Random Lake.

“I think it was just good to get a first win under our belts and just really know that we can do it. We’ve been in a couple of close games. It’s just finishing the games,” Schmidt said. “It’s just continuing to know that we have faith in each other, we have trust in each other that we can do it together.”

Against Plymouth, the Rockets cut a 24-15 halftime deficit to 35-29 with 10 minutes to play.

Getschman hit a three-pointer, Horn drove for a basket and got fouled but missed the free throw and Schmidt scored to complete a 7-0 run and make it a two-possession game.

“We got one good thing going and our energy just picked up. It was going good for a while,” Getschman said.

“We really run off of big bench energy and each other’s attitudes. When that’s there, we always are doing really well,” Horn said.

But the Panthers answered, and the Rockets didn’t get closer than seven points the rest of the way.

The Rockets struggled to get to the free throw line, only going 2-for-3. Plymouth shot 8-for-14 on free throws.

“We did a lot of rotations tonight to try to wear them down. We had a deeper bench than them numbers-wise, it just didn’t transpire for us offensively,” Depies said.

“We’ve got to figure out how to dig a little deeper and realize we can play in games. I think right now we’re just complacent with being competitive. It’s now switching the shift mentally to how do we get to be on the winning side of things.”

The Rockets, 1-9, host West Bend West on Tuesday, Jan. 6, and Oconto on Thursday, Jan. 8, both nonconference foes.