Unlike previous seasons, the Garfield G-Men girls’ basketball team is still searching to find that winning edge. The G-Men’s slide continued, losing 63-39 against Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Grey Tier foe LaBrae last Thursday evening at the JAG Fieldhouse.
“We struggled to score and when we are giving up points on defense it just compounds the problem,” said Coach Aaron Gilbert. “We have just been really struggling to score throughout the season.”
Since joining the MVAC Grey Tier in the 2020-21 season, the G-Men (2-10, 2-5) have dominated the Vikings, winning four straight games but LaBrae now holds the advantage after sweeping the season series against Garfield. It’s the latest development in a season of hurdles for the G-Men, who have lost six of their last seven games.
On Thursday, Garfield showed some signs of life at the beginning of the second half. Trailing 31-17 at the start of the third period, the G-Men staged a 9-3 run sparked by some stellar perimeter shooting.
After sophomore wing Mandy Cardinal scored the G-Men’s first points of the second half on a drive to the basket, Garfield started knocking down some shots, including a 3-pointer from senior guard Zoey May off an assist from senior guard Kali Tasker and then the 5-foot-7 Tasker drained a pair of jump shots, trimming the Vikings’ lead to 33-26.
“We showed fight,” acknowledged the 17th-year coach. “We had fight in us but it just wears on you and it gets to the point where you just mentally give in and teams just put a run on us. We get it to single digits and then bang, you are back at it being a 15 or 16-point game.”
When Gilbert was issued a technical foul with 4:24 remaining in the third quarter, that put the Vikings in the bonus. The OHSAA instituted a new policy providing that once a team commits five fouls in a quarter, any additional fouls automatically result in two free throws.
Foul trouble contributed to Garfield’s woes as the Vikings went to the line 12 times in the third period, knocking down seven-of-12 free throws to extend its lead.
According to Gilbert, it was the first time Garfield was heavily affected by the new foul rules this season.
“With that five foul rule and you get shots right away, it just put us behind the eight-ball,” he added. “The entire season we have never had four players with four fouls in a game, so I do not know what the difference was with how things were going.”
Whatever sparked the G-Men offensively in the third quarter quickly evaporated and LaBrae’s surge continued, scoring six straight points to take a commanding 56-31 advantage in the middle of the fourth quarter.
After knocking down six field goals in the third period, the G-Men only made four shots in the final quarter and were outscored by a 14-8 margin, sending them to another defeat in a season filled with losses.
In addition to being a young team, Gilbert said Garfield is still struggling to figure out which lineup combinations are the most effective. He added that what makes it so challenging is the younger G-Men players are still figuring out how to become scorers.
“We just do not have people that score baskets in volume,” Gilbert said. “It’s a lack of having people to score in volumes. We have Mandy who is a volume scorer but everybody else is just very inconsistent and it is not being able to get into a rhythm, of being able to hit shots.”
The G-Men’s lack of scoring depth showed in the first quarter when LaBrae outscored them by a 10-4 margin. The 6-foot Cardinal went zero-of-four from the floor and the rest of her teammates struggled to pick up the slack, combining to shoot only one-of-five. Garfield did not score its first points until the 2:58 mark when sophomore guard Kaelyn Tasker knocked down a pair of free throws.
Garfield stayed within striking distance, trading buckets with the Vikings to keep the deficit within six points, but the G-Men could not sustain their offense and LaBrae went on an 11-4 scoring spree, taking a 30-17 lead into the half.
“We have not been consistent,” Gilbert said. “We have been up and down, playing well one night and played terribly the next night. We are just trying to get some consistency out of our kids and are trying to figure out which combinations will bring that consistency. We have to find out who can contribute. We have had some flashes in the pan, but we cannot stretch those things into a sustained amount of time.”
Following a road game against MVAC Grey Tier rival Champion on Wednesday evening, the G-Men will not return to the court until Jan. 22 when they welcome conference foe Campbell Memorial.
