South Bend Washington girls basketball suffers worst loss in past 4 years
SOUTH BEND — It’s been a while since the South Bend Washington girls basketball team lost like this.
More than four years to be exact, as Saturday’s 75-52 loss to Bolingbrook (Ill.) was the first by more than 20 points for the Panthers since Nov. 30, 2019. Washington’s only lead came at 2-0, with the top-ranked team from Illinois systematically taking over the game from there.
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“We’re too emotional,” Washington coach Steve Reynolds said. “At the end of the day, we’re talented, we have all-conference players, all-state players, all of that stuff, but we’re just too emotional, too up-and-down. We were on the rollercoaster.”
No bigger example of the emotional swing was the third quarter. Bolingbrook (15-2) built a 22-point lead before Washington (13-4) rallied. A layup from junior Kira Reynolds off a pass from classmate Ryiah Wilson made it a 47-32 game, and the crowd inside the Great Western Forum started to get loud.
In a blink, though, the rally was thwarted by the Raiders. Eight unanswered points in 79 seconds squashed any comeback attempt the Panthers had left.
“That’s the rollercoaster, right?” Steve Reynolds remarked. “You’re going to the top and it’s really exciting, but then you have those lulls. We’re trying to stay off of that rollercoaster. We want to enjoy the amusement park so to speak, but it’s really hard when you’re up-and-down like that.”
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It was a frustrating game from start to finish for the Panthers. Junior standout Monique Mitchell picked up two fouls in the first three minutes of the game, sending her to the bench to preserve her for later in the contest.
Kira Reynolds also picked up two fouls in the first quarter. She doubled that number right before halftime, picking up an offensive foul and a technical for arguing the call. The Purdue commit was mostly a non-factor Saturday, scoring 10 points.
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“It’s difficult to coach, try to stay focused and concentrate on the task at hand,” Steve Reynolds said when asked about Kira’s struggles during the game. “Granted, she was going up against one of the top players in the country (Bolingbrook sophomore Trinity Jones), but you’ve got to figure it out, and you have to do it with some semblance of energy, effort and focus.”
Washington, ranked 12th in the coaches poll this week, has five games left before sectionals begin. Although no coach wants to lose the way the Panthers did Saturday, Steve Reynolds is hopeful his group can learn from the experience.
“When you’re not playing really tough competition, you don’t get exposed,” Steve Reynolds said. “And (Saturday), that happened. You have to know the plays, you have to know the rotation, you have to know the scouting report, and when you don’t, you can’t beat teams like (Bolingbrook). They’re too good. We’ll take that and capitalize on that because we want to use this as a springboard for the tournament.”
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: South Bend Washington girls basketball suffers worst loss in 4 years
