The girls started the tournament with an easy 49-23 win against West Valley’s JV squad on Wednesday, before battling much tougher opponents in Gig Harbor, Wash., on Thursday and Barrow on Saturday.
So far this season, the story for the Mariners has been who hasn’t been on the floor on any given night, as injuries and vacation time have left the team shorthanded.
That was the case in the tournament over the weekend, as senior point guard Clair Siekaniec missed the trip to Ketchikan after having dental surgery.
Against Gig Harbor, the lack of experienced ball-handling led to eight Mariner turnovers in the first quarter alone, and Gig Harbor grabbed a 30-15 lead.
Homer played even with Gig Harbor from there in many facets of the game, but made only 13 percent of its shots and turned the ball over 21 times, hurting any chance of a comeback. The Mariners also shot just 11-26 from the free throw line, and Gig Harbor won the game 54-29.
Against Barrow Saturday, the Mariners rebounded well and found plenty of good looks at the basket against the shorter Whalers, but another poor shooting night and stellar play from Barrow’s Piggy Pili, thwarted the Mariners chance at third place.
Basketball Coach Deb Lowney said the team was doing a lot of things right, especially on defense, but the shots just weren’t dropping.
“The kids work really hard defensively only to miss an easy shot or turn it over on the offensive end,” she said. “These mistakes are eating us up emotionally. It is really hard to keep working hard when you don’t get the pay off on the other end.”
The Mariners got 13 points from Reba Temple and strong games from Deanna Weaver and Allison Horazdovsky with 7 each.
But Pili scored 31, including 17 of 19 shooting from the free throw line to lead Barrow to a 59-44 win.
In that game the Mariners led 14-10 early in the first quarter before Pili started her free throw onslaught after getting fouled during a three-point attempt.
Pili made two of three and added a bucket to give Barrow a 16-14 lead after the first quarter.
The game remained tight through the second and third quarters and Barrow led by just six points after the third quarter.
But any time the Mariners made a run, Pili was there to make key free throws in the fourth quarter, hitting seven of eight down the stretch.
The Mariners on the other hand struggled at the free throw line, making just 12 of 26 in the game.
After a hectic early season, the girls will play closer to home for the next two months starting with the Skyview Tipoff today against Grace Christian at 2:45 p.m.
“They want a break but they’re not going to get one,” said Lowney. “I am not happy about the fact that we only have two days to prepare for the (Skyview Tipoff), but I have a lot of faith in these girls. I believe that we can make the technical adjustments to our game so that our performance is stronger.”
The boys team had the week off and starts region play today against Kodiak at 3 p.m. at the SoHi Tipoff.
The Mariners’ next home games are Jan. 12 against Kenai.
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