Niwot girls struggle in Trojan Classic Invitational

Not much went right for the Niwot girls basketball team in the Trojan Classic Invitational, hosted by Longmont High from Dec. 16-18. The Cougars' scorching start to the season was simmered with losses to Thomas Jefferson, Evergreen and Longmont.

In the span of about 48 hours, Niwot watched its 4-1 record slip to 4-4.

Up first in the tournament for Niwot was Thomas Jefferson on Dec. 18. Niwot trailed by just three points following the first quarter but progressively watched the deficit increase in an eventual 46-23 demise. Head coach Jon Hill believed the Cougars struggled with focus, a rare occurrence thus far under the first-year head coach.

"That's the first time that we didn't play with heart," Hill said following the loss. "I think we wanted to be everywhere but on a basketball court."

Standout freshman guard Rose Pacheco, who was coming off a 22-point performance against Middle Park on Dec. 4, once again led Niwot in scoring with six points. While it wasn't her best shooting performance of the season (2-for-9), she was a much-needed spark off the bench.

"This team has really picked me up, and they're just all really positive," Pacheco said. "It helps me stay in my game, especially when we're all cheering for each other."

Hill had a similar observation when he noticed Niwot's positive attitude on the bench. He said that senior Grace Crall, in particular, was keeping her teammates upright.

"Grace Crall made a comment of 'we've got to be good teammates, no matter what the score is,' because we had some girls kind of getting down on each other," Hill said. "That's important because we talk all the time about we don't need to be a good teammate when we're up 20, we need to be a good teammate when we're down 20."

Despite the leadership, Niwot's rough stretch continued the following day against Evergreen. The Cougars-Cougars matchup was controlled from start to finish by Evergreen, ending in a 50-27 loss. Complimenting Pacheco's 11-point output was fellow freshman Evelyn Melis, who had seven. No other Niwot player surpassed two points.

In Niwot's tournament finale against crosstown rival Longmont on Dec. 18, the Cougars had no answer for Trojans sophomore guard Savannah Pohl, who recorded a double-double in their 46-23 win. High school double-doubles don't come often, but Pohl did so easily with 16 points and 11 rebounds.

The bright spot for Niwot was senior guard Carly Toothaker's aggressiveness and free-throw shooting. She scored five of her seven points from the charity stripe on the afternoon.

Up next for Niwot is another crosstown matchup at Silver Creek on Dec. 21. The girls will then have a couple of weeks for winter break before their next game at Battle Mountain on Jan. 5.