FCHS vs. Auburn

Falls City - 43, Auburn - 45

Falls City gave up a late rally in the first quarter to go down 5-14. The Lady Tigers trailed by as many as 11 points in the second quarter before hitting a run of their own sparked by better defense and rebounding. They closed within five by halftime, 21-26. 

The second half was very close the whole way. The Tigers even led at the end of the third quarter 36-35 after a 3-point shot by Lisa Kopf and 6 of 8 shooting from the freethrow line.  Each possession was huge in the fourth quarter, and the Lady Tigers just gave away a few too many chances to score. They had 30 turnovers total for the game, 20 in the first half alone.

"I saw several areas of improvement throughout the game," said Coach Jason Vitosh, "but we still had lapses in effort and judgement that led to scores by Auburn." He added, " It was a good game to learn from, especially the end of the game situations.  We haven’t even come close to playing at the level are capable of, so each time out I’m expecting big strides forward."

Leading Scorers
Kelsie Kean - 14, Julianne Kopf - 9, Lisa Kopf - 9
Leading Rebounders
Julianne Kopf - 8, Justina Strecker - 7, Kelsie Kean - 7
Steals
Kelsie Kean - 3

FCHS vs. Hiawatha, KS

Falls City - 37, Hiawatha - 53

Falls City had a good strong start to the game in the first quarter and looked much improved over the first game.  Hiawatha made a nice run in the second quarter, though, to take a 6 point lead to half time.  The Tigers seemed to have the defensive adjustment figured out coming out of the locker room, holding the Redhawks to only 2 points the entire 3rd quarter.  Unfortunately, in the last period several mental breakdowns led to a complete collapse of the defense and rebounding.  Hiawatha managed several rebounds and putbacks to pull away by the end of the game. 

"It was difficult to see the team lose focus at the end and allow several easy baskets to determine the outcome," said Coach Jason Vitosh.  "We had really improved in several areas already as far as defensive assignments and running more offensive sets.  The let down happened too quick and late in the game for the girls to realize what to change". 

Leading Scorers
Kelsie Kean - 13, Lisa Kopf - 7, Amy Dunn - 7
Leading Rebounders
Kelsie Kean - 8, Lisa Kopf - 6
Steals
Lisa Kopf - 4, Julianne Kopf - 4

The Lady Tigers travel to Auburn on Friday, December 12, for their first game on the road.

FCHS vs. Syracuse

Falls City - 25, Syracuse - 61

The Lady Tigers opened the 2008-09 season with a loss to the Lady Rockets, a pre-season top ten team. Following the game, Coach Jason Vitosh said, "The Rockets are very solid and deserving of their top 10 state ranking. 
We are not yet where I think we should be.  I felt we should have at least played better defensively, and we didn ‘t execute our offensive sets as well as we can."

"Fortunately, the pieces are all there to get where we want to be;" added Coach Vitosh, "it is just going to take some game experience for our younger kids to catch up to the speed of the varsity level. If Justina Strecker can continue to rebound this well, more points will follow.  As a team, we need to get to the freethrow line more and take advantage of some easier points.  Hannah Thompson looked real good on a couple drives to the basket and needs to be willing to take control with several sophomores on the court." 

Leading Scorers
Lisa Kopf - 8, Justina Strecker - 5
Leading Rebounders
Justina Strecker - 8, Kari Fritz - 4
Steals
Justina Strecker - 3

The Varsity girls will play Tuesday, December 9, at home against Hiawatha, KS. They travel to Auburn on Friday, December 12, for their first game on the road.