Katy Hammond led the Griffin Christian Lady Crusaders basketball team with 11 points and 4 assists in a 60-35 loss Friday night at home against GISA Region 4-AA opponent Flint River Academy. The Crusaders (7-9 overall, 1-3 GISA Region 4-AA), which came into the game still reeling from a 93-28 loss to The Westfield School, showed some major improvements early on against the Lady Wildcats.

The game went back-and-forth throughout much of the first, with Flint River leading until Mary Kate Blalock tied it up at 1:09. It stayed close for the first half of the second quarter, but the Lady Wildcats (11-2 overall, 4-1 GISA Region 4-AA) went on a 15-1 run to effectively break the game open, ending up with a 29-14 lead heading into halftime.

Lily Hammond stole the ball on the opponent’s baseline and fed it to her sister Katy up-court for an easy lay-up for the first points of the third quarter. Then, Leyah Brown stripped a Flint River player near half-court and took it all the way for two, cutting the lead to 29-18. However, the Crusaders couldn’t capitalize, and the spread remained at 15 going into the final period.

The Lady Cats continued to improve their advantage throughout the fourth, but Griffin Christian played hard all the way to the final whistle. Chelsey Deaton converted a 3-point play with 7:23 left, and Katy Hammond stole the ball and went cosast-to-coast 30 seconds later.

One of the key performers of the game was Brittany Foster, who had 7 points, 7 rebounds, 5 steals and 5 blocks. The biggest reason why the Lady Crusaders lost was turnovers. It was virtually impossible for Griffin Christian to gain momentum for any long periods of time due to their miscues.

Rounding out the Lady Crusaders' score sheet were Leyah Brown with 6 points and 6 rebounds and Lily Hammond with 2 points and 5 rebounds.

Griffin Christian’s next game will be at home at 3:30 p.m. today against non-region opponent Mount de Sales Academy (16-2).

GRIFFIN CHRISTIAN GIRLS

Date |Opponent |Time/Score

11/13 |WEBER |W 48-26

11/16 |Cent. Fellow|L 52-45

11/26 |Grace |W 45-25

11/29 |Weber |W 43-34

11/30 |TRINITY |L 54-29

12/4 |Westfield |L 79-21

12/7 |Mount de Sales |L 73-24

12/11 |FURTAH* |W 44-33

12/13 |GRACE |W 65-24

12/14 |DAWSON ST |W 56-38

12/18 |Arlington* |L 76-27

12/28 |vs. Heritage |L 53-38

12/29 |vs. Trinity |W 47-44

1/4 |LaGrange* |L 55-38

1/8 |WESTFIELD |L 93-28

1/11 |FLINT RIVER* |L 60-35

1/12 |MOUNT de SALES |3:30

1/14 |PIEDMONT* |6:00

1/18 |Harvester* |6:00

1/22 |Furtah* |6:00

1/25 |ARLINGTON* |6:00

1/31 |LaGRANGE* |6:00

2/1 |Flint River* |6:00

2/5 |Piedmont* |6:00

2/8 |HARVESTER* |6:00