POSITIVE ENERGY: Hun School girls’ basketball player Maura Kelly heads to the basket last Saturday against the Hill School (Pa.). Senior forward Kelly scored eight points in a losing cause as Hun fell 41-19. The Raiders, now 1-9, hosts Blair Academy on January 13 and plays at Mercersburg Academy (Pa.) on January 16. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

It was another rough day at the office for the Hun School girls’ basketball team last Saturday as it hosted the Hill School (Pa.).

Missing three key players due to injury, Hun lost 41-19, falling to 1-9 and suffering its seventh straight defeat.

While it would be understandable if the Raiders were hanging their heads, Hun head coach Bill Holup hasn’t seen any quit in his players.

“The girls are hustling, they are pushing themselves,” said Holup. “We have our hands tied behind our backs right now, we have three girls out with injuries, Amber Bourke, Alexis Moise, and Julie Fassl. Amber is our top returning scorer from last year and she has only played one game in our first 10 so far. Alexis has missed eight games and Julie missed the last game before break and this week.”

Those who can play are stepping up to the best of their abilities. “Everybody is chipping in and doing what they can,” added Holup. “The kids are a great group, their personality has been great.”

Freshman Leah Sutphen and senior Maura Kelly have been doing well for the Raiders.

“Leah’s primary sport is soccer,” said Holup. “She has really stepped up, her competitiveness and overall effort has been fantastic. Maura Kelly scored 15 points against PDS on Thursday (in a 62-38 loss) and had eight against Hill. She is really starting to assert herself on the offensive end; she has always been a solid defensive player.”

Holup is looking for his players to assert themselves through a focus on fundamentals.

“I just want us to get better every game and continue to learn and improve and not make the same mistakes we made the previous game,” said Holup, whose team hosts Blair Academy on January 13 and then plays at Mercersburg Academy (Pa.) on January 16.

“That is what it really comes down to, every day working on something and getting better at it; whether it is defensive rebounding or taking a charge or getting more steals or cutting down turnovers, whatever it is. Every day we just want to continue to improve in some area and by the end of the season we will be a stronger team than we were in the beginning.”

Based on the upbeat mentality displayed by his players so far, Holup is confident that Hun can do better and better as the season goes on.

“The effort is there,” asserted Holup. “We just have to continue to improve and fight through the adversity.”