LONGMONT – A slow start doomed the Summit High School girls basketball team in Wednesday’s opening round of the 4A playoffs.”They came out shell shocked,” Lady Tigers coach Dylan Hollingsworth said of his team after its 64-35 loss to Longmont (14-10). “We were so afraid of making mistakes, we ended up making mistakes instead of letting the game come to us.”The turnover-prone visitors (9-14) struggled to box out, rotate defensively and execute offensively in the first half and found themselves down 36-10 at halftime as a result.Hollingsworth, whose central core of six players includes four sophomores, gave his team clear instructions during the intermission.

“I told them to have fun,” the second-year head coach said. “That’s why we’re here. There’s no sense getting stressed out about things we can’t control.”SHS returned to the court with a newfound poise and finished out its season by showing its competitive fire.Sophomore post player Julie Oberriter led the charge.”Julie played one of her best games in a couple of months,” Hollingsworth said. “She had a very aggressive mentality and it carried over to the other players.”

Oberriter finished with 13 points; Alyssa Tallmadge scored 10; and Katie Sodergren and Brie Barto each chipped in six.Summit’s youth may have been a liability on Wednesday, but it bodes well for the future.”It’s a credit to the girls that they made the playoffs,” Hollingsworth said, “and it gives them something to work toward for next year.”The Lady Tigers will graduate just two seniors – Katie Sodergren and Marie Oberriter.

“One of the hardest things is saying good-bye to the seniors,” Hollingsworth said. “They’ve been here through the whole thing.”Summit far from enjoyed Wednesday’s one-sided contest, but there’s a good chance the playoff experience it gained in Longmont will be helpful down the road.”Our season could have ended last Friday and we got to play one more time,” Hollingsworth said. “That was good.”Adam Boffey can be contacted at (970) 668-4634, or at aboffey@summitdaily.com.