Ridgewood unable to recover from slow start

• Reprints

Updated: February 20, 2012 8:38AM

Playing on Friday the 13th proved unlucky as the Ridgewood girls basketball team fell to Glenbard South 52-40 in a Metro Suburban Conference game.

GBS held an early 17-10 lead after the first quarter. In the second stanza, the Rebels narrowed the lead to 21-15 at the half.

“The second quarter was very different (with) both teams playing very strong defense and limiting good looks for the opponent,” said Rebels head coach Karl Frixen.

In the third quarter, the Rebels were outscored 16-11, which was caused by numerous offensive rebounds by the Raiders and the Rebels struggling to make shots. Through three quarters of play, the Rebels trailed 31-26. From there, the Rebels were unable to get any closer as the Raiders added to their lead and hung on for the 52-40 win.

“In the fourth quarter, both teams were aggressive on the offensive end and (we) couldn’t make a dent into the deficit before losing to the Raiders,” said Frixen.

The Rebels were led by Jackie Stroud, who had 18 points and Ines Grepo with 12. With the loss, the Rebels fell to 9-11 overall and 2-5 in MSC play. Despite being slightly under .500, Frixen sees positives in his team’s performance so far this season, but knows there is work to be done.

“The season so far feels like a roller-coaster ride with a lot of ups and downs,” said Frixen. “We have been very inconsistent and we have let some games get away that we should have won. I do like our competitiveness and we are in every game we play, but sometimes we haven’t made the right decisions to win the game.”

The Rebels will get a chance to snap this two-game losing streak against another conference opponent in Elmwood Park on Friday night.

“Elmwood Park is a huge game for us for several reasons,” said Frixen. “They are our rival and they beat us the first time so we need to get a little revenge (and) we need to get a much needed victory in conference.” He added, “We are also in the same regional and we are playing for seeding, (so) beating them would go a long way in securing a higher seed.”