NEW BLOOMFIELD - New Bloomfield junior guard Asya Nichols tallied a game-high 13 points in the Lady Wildcats' 42-30 loss to the Harrisburg Lady Bulldogs in Saturday afternoon's season opener.
Senior guard Makenna Branch grabbed a team-high six rebounds for New Bloomfield, which trailed 10-7 after one quarter and 17-12 at halftime. The Lady Wildcats were down 22-14 entering the fourth quarter, but Harrisburg clinched the victory by outscoring New Bloomfield 20-16 over the last 8 minutes.
"Overall, I was pleased with the effort," first-year Lady Wildcats head coach Patrick Center said. "We had a tough time getting things going offensively and came out with little energy in the third (quarter).
"But, overall I think we competed hard and played well together. I told the girls after the game that there's obviously things we need to improve on, but I think we set a good foundation for our season moving forward."
Brecca Thornhill led Harrisburg with eight points.
New Bloomfield remains at home for a matchup against Calvary Lutheran at 6 p.m. Tuesday.