Grace Christian Academy travelled to Open Bible Christian School in Valdosta last Tuesday for a faceoff against the Trojans.

The Grace Christian Academy Lady Cougars struggled and fell 47-25, but coach Tommy Yancey wasn’t expecting the best performance from his players to begin with.

The majority of his starting players have been sick.

“They’ve been playing well the past two games,” Yancey said. “Then we went over there with four or five of them sick. I knew going in as sick as they were, it was going to be a struggle.”

Yancey, also sick, said his players were tired and coughing while playing on the court.

Sophomore wing Kelsey Harrell was the scoring leader for the team, dropping in 14 points for the Lady Cougars. She was five for 22 from the field and managed to sink one of her eight three-pointer attempts.

Harrell was consistent on free throws, going three for five. She had one assist and one offensive rebound, but allowed seven turnovers.

“It was her best game of the year,” Yancey said. “She penetrated well. She fought hard and played hard even though the was sick.”

Behind her was junior guard Shelby Woodrum with four more points for the Lady Cougars. Woodrum wasn’t able to hit any of her nine attempts from the field, but was four for six on her free throws.

Woodrum had two offensive rebounds, three defensive rebounds, a steal and three turnovers.

Sophomore wing Lindsey Duke was one for five from the field and managed to sink one of her three three-pointers, raking in three points total for the Lady Cougars.

Total, the Lady Cougars allowed 21 turnovers, above their goal of allowing only 10 turnovers a game.

“Turnovers is one of the big things we’re working on,” Yancey said. “I need to do a better job coaching them and getting them in better positions.”

The Lady Cougars also had 17 total fouls. But Yancey said correcting their mistakes and getting better as a team is something that takes hard work and time.

“It’s a process,” Yancey said. “We have some decent players. What we have to do is put them in a spot to do what they do best.”