St. Charles North Polaris was a worthy match for the Metea Valley Mustangs last Tuesday. It was a tough game for the girls as they were unable to start off strong and show their true capability. The Polaris was able to earn a lead just minutes into the first quarter leaving the Mustangs in a struggle to get their footing back, ultimately ending in a loss for black and gold, 59-25.

“I did not feel we really came to play as a basketball team hence the running clock and the score,” head coach Keith McIntosh said. “We are working on a lot of things and talking our way through.”

Beginning the first quarter the girls were not the strongest that they have been this season. This allowed for St. Charles North to score many points, and by halfway in the quarter have a lead of 9-2. This quarter also saw an injury on the court and many fouls for St. Charles North ending in Metea trailing by 14 points.

“We did not play to our capabilities and I think we could have come out stronger,” junior center Jamie Nosek said. “There is definitely a lot more potential in us that we did not reach today.”

The second and third quarter the Mustangs added some points to the score and utilized skills from practice to progress forward. However, St. Charles’ strong offense was able to keep their lead the whole game and pull ahead ending the third quarter 51-17.

“We did bring to the floor some of the things we worked on in practice yesterday and that is one of our many goals,” McIntosh said. “We are just not doing them consistently yet in games.”

Although the girls were not able to do their best against St. Charles North, they have a great journey ahead of them and a strong foundation. Their next game is against Naperville Central this Friday.

“We did not come out as strong as we could have in the first half, but in the second half we came out stronger, but we need that the entire game,” freshman shooting guard Sreehitha Duggirala said. “In the second half, we started driving which was really good and looking for those open shots, but we are just hoping to contribute more offensively.”