The Marysville girls basketball team suffered its first loss of the season on Wednesday, falling to River Valley 48-47 in a non-league tilt at River Valley.
Monarch head coach Klarke Ramsome has seen his team struggle the past couple of games and felt it continued against the Vikings.
While winning its last two games, Marysville (4-1) only scored a total of 46 points in its wins over Hilliard Darby and Wapakoneta.
The Lady Monarchs did a little better offensively against the Lady Vikings (5-0), but still found times when the offense was not clicking.
That was especially so in the third quarter when they scored only five points.
“We are not as connected at the offensive end and that goes back to me as a coach,” Ransome said. “We are not being aggressive right now.”
A three-point barrage by Marysville, led by Alyssa Strahm (pictured), helped Marysville to a 23-20 halftime lead.
All of Marysville’s points scored in the first quarter (12) came on three-point goals.
That trend continued during the second quarter with a trio of treys.
Strahm connected twice in the first quarter and Cam Lee notched one as Marysville jumped out to a 12-5 advantage.
River Valley, though, scored the last seven points of the frame, capped by Hannah Logan’s buzzer-beating, three-point goal.
Another trifecta from Strahm and five markers by Ava Krutowskis, which included a three-point tally, gave Marysville a 20-16 lead with 5:12 left in the second quarter.
A drive to the basket by Logan tied the game at 20 with two minutes left in the period.
Strahm’s fourth three-pointer of the half with 46 seconds left gave Marysville a 23-20 cushion at the intermission.
Neither team could get much going offensively in the third quarter.
A six-point run by River Valley, though, had it leading 28-25 with slightly less than three minutes left in the stanza.
A three-point goal by Leah Brown tied the game at 28.
A pair of free throws by Lexie Hecker allowed River Valley to take a 30-28 into the final quarter.
JoJo Eberhart’s rebound basket opened Marysville’s scoring in the fourth quarter,
River Valley, however, regained the lead at 34-30.
The contest was tied once again as Krutowskis netted four straight points.
A three-point goal by Strahm and end-to-end drive from Eberhart were sandwiched around two free throws by Hecker.
As a result, MHS led 40-39 with 3:54 left in the game.
River Valley then went on a 9-2 run, helped by a traditional three-point play from Emma Roseberry, to gain a 48-42 margin with 39.3 seconds left on the timer.
Marysville scored the game’s final five points, including a three-point goal at the buzzer by Brown.
That, however, left the Lady Monarchs one point short on the scoreboard.
“We will use this loss as a learning tool,” Ransome said. “We have a lot of work to do as a group.”
Strahm totaled 15 points to lead Marysville, while Brown also hit double figures with 13 markers.
Logan led all scorers with 22 points.
Two other contests were played before the varsity game.
Marysville’s JV-B team won 29-12, led by Emma Gilbert’s points, while the JV-A squad posted a 47-23 victory.
Abby Strahm and Addy Tweed led the way with 17 and 16 points respectively.
Marysville returns to action Friday as it hosts Dublin Jerome.
Marysville
Krutkowskis 3-2-9, Lee 1-0-3, Brown 5-0-13, Schmutz 1-0-2, Eberhart 2-1-5, Strahm 5-0-15. Three-point goals: Strahm 5. Brown 3, Krutkowskis, Lee.
River Valley
Roseberry 2-1-5, Hecker 1-9-11, Logan 10-0-22, Snyder 3-2-8, Osborne 1-0-2. Three-point goals: Logan 2.