Turnovers trouble women’s varsity basketball

PHOTO: With her team falling behind and her ankle hurting, Emme Eisenman watches the game with disappointment.

By Dahlia Kraus,

BlueDevilHUB.com Staff–

The Davis High varsity women’s basketball team lost to the Elk Grove High Thundering Herd on Feb. 3 at a home game.

“To be honest, it was a rough game,” junior Lily Hessl said.

The final score was 57-38 in favor of Elk Grove. Davis struggled due to insufficient passing and excessive turnovers, and junior Emme Eisenman’s injury did not help.

The teams were well matched at the beginning, with the first quarter ending tied 13-13. 

“The energy in the first quarter was right where we wanted to be,” head coach Heather Highshoe said. “And then our turnovers started in the second quarter, and from there we went down big time.”

Throughout the second quarter, Highshoe said Elk Grove picked the ball from Davis ten times in a row. Despite Davis entering the third quarter with a 14 point deficit, Highshoe believed the Blue Devils had a chance. However, continued turnovers increased the gap.

By the end of the game, Davis had 29 turnovers. “Our turnovers killed us,” Highshoe said. 

After the game, Hessl recognized that passing was a weakness in this game. Recently the Blue Devils worked on pass faking to minimize turnovers, “but today [the Blue Devils] didn’t really do that,” Hessl said. According to Highshoe, the team will be working on passing next practice.

While the Blue Devils played through the game, Eisenman watched from the sidelines with an ankle injury. Eisenman went for a pass in the second quarter when Thundering Herd forward Maya Chelini caused her to fall and roll her left ankle. 

“I was frustrated in the moment,” Eisenman said, especially because her other ankle still hurt from rolling it three weeks ago during a game. 

After wrapping her ankle and attempting to play through the pain, Eisenman sat out in disappointment.

“I know how badly she wanted to win that game. So I was just hoping she could get back in there. But she looked like she was hurting a little too much, so I’m glad she sat out and got some rest,” her father Russ Eisenman said.

The Blue Devils did not benefit from having their main shooting guard out of the game. 

“[Eisenman] brings a lot of energy and hussle, and she’s our leading scorer,” Highshoe said.

Eisenman will see how practice goes and plans on playing in their next game tomorrow, Feb. 5, against Sheldon.