Solon’s girls’ basketball team opened the season with a pair of losses to Center Point-Urbana and Cedar Rapids Xavier.
CPU bested the Lady Spartans, 51-37, Nov. 23, in Center Point.
CPU captured a 19-15 lead at the end of the first quarter before the Lady Spartans rebounded in the second outscoring the Stormin’ Pointers, 9-4, to hold a tentative 24-23 lead at halftime. CPU rallied in the second half with 14 points in each quarter, beating Solon’s seven in the third and six in the fourth for the victory.
Solon sank 13-51 field goals, 5-24 from beyond the arc, while sinking 6-15 from the charity stripe. The Lady Spartans pulled down 32 total rebounds to CPU’s 44, stole the ball eight times versus the Pointers’ nine, and committed 22 turnovers and 15 fouls as opposed to CPU’s 23 and 17 respectively.
Head coach Jamie Smith felt Solon fell short shooting in the second half, crediting the CPU defense.
“We didn’t shoot the ball very well,” he said. “I thought CPU did a real good job of mixing up things on defense. We had some good looks but didn’t hit them.”
Senior MaKinley “Mak” Levin led the Lady Spartans’ scoring with 10 points sinking 4-of-13 field goals, 1-of-7 from three-point range and 1-of-3 free throws.
“I thought Mak played a real good first half, got to the basket well and played real good defense,” Smith praised.
Fellow senior Kaia Holtkamp pulled down seven boards. Sophomore Callie Levin pilfered the ball three times and led with three assists.
Smith praised the Spartan Nation for making the trip for a road season opener.
“We had a great crowd at CPU,” he said. “It’s always great to have fans at the games. We did notice a big difference in attendance.”
Solon’s statistical leaders were: points — MaKinley Levin 10, Holtkamp eight, Callie Levin seven, Mia Stahle and Ava Stebral three, Elly Holubar, Claire LaDage and Hailey Miller two; rebounds — Holtkamp seven, Callie Levin five, Stebral five, Holubar four, MaKinley Levin and Miller four and LaDage three; assists — Callie Levin three, Stebral two, Holtkamp, Holubar, MaKinley Levin and Stahle one; steals — Callie Levin three, Miller two, Stebral, Holtkamp and MaKinley Levin one.
On Nov. 27, the Lady Spartans built a 25-20 second-quarter lead on 15 points from Solon sophomore Callie Levin. However, Class 4A’s second-ranked Cedar Rapids Xavier surged to a 36-28 halftime score before closing out the win, 68-54, as part of Rivalry Weekend at Kirkwood Community College’s Johnson Hall, in Cedar Rapids.
Callie Levin led all scorers with 25 points, nearly half of Solon’s total.
Solon led 18-14 at the end of one before being outscored 22-10 in the second quarter to trail 36-28 courtesy of a Xavier 11-point tear by senior Lexi Beier and freshman Sydney Huber. The Spartans were held to seven points in the third quarter while limiting Xavier to just 12, 48-35. Solon nearly kept pace in the final quarter, scoring 19 to Xavier’s 20, but it was not enough.
“They hit some big shots in the second quarter and we couldn’t get one to drop,” coach Smith said. “We have to find a way to be a little more patient in our offense and make one more pass. We like shooting threes but I think we can get better looks. As I have mentioned before, I think Xavier is a top-two team in 4A. If we are going to beat a team like that we will have to shoot better.”
Holtkamp and Holubar led the Spartans with six total rebounds apiece. Levin managed to steal the ball five times to lead Solon and MaKinley Levin had their sole assist.
“Callie had a nice bounce-back game after Tuesday’s loss,” coach Smith praised. “Hailey Miller did a nice job off the bench and gave us some much-needed offense.”