FRUITPORT – The Fruitport girls basketball team has been playing better in recent weeks, so a five-point halftime lead on Tuesday was cause for optimism.

But the second half didn’t go nearly as well as the first, and the Trojans ended up falling 51-29 to Holland in a home non-conference game.

Fruitport’s shots stopped falling after halftime, the Dutch started getting and making a lot of free throws, and the game got away from the Trojans,

“We made a change offensively last week that got us going in the first half,” said Fruitport head coach Brian Packard. ‘But then they made a change defensively, and honestly, we needed to make some shots. Our top shooters did not shoot well, which doesn’t happen very often, so I was a little surprised by that.”

Fruitport’s Lainey Bol (12), who scored a team-high 10 points.

The Trojans lost their third game  in a row, after winning two straight. They are now 2-11 on the season.

One bright spot for Fruitport was the play of Lainey Bol, who scored eight of her team-high 10 points in the first half.

“We had a conversation before the game to try to get her going a little bit, about what we need from her, and she responded well to that,” Packard said.

Fruitport jumped out to a 6-0 lead early in the game and led 12-10 after one quarter.

Fruitport’s Kalli Tawney (21), who had a pair of three-pointers in the game. Photo/Jeremy Clark

The teams only combined for 13 points in a slower second quarter. Neither squad scored in the final 3:15 and Fruitport went into the locker room up 20-15.

Not much went right for the Trojans after that.

They were outscored 18-2 in the third quarter and 18-7 in the fourth.

The Trojans’ fouls caught up with them in the fourth quarter, when Holland hit 12 free throws to seal the victory.

Fruitport’s Kenzie Pate dribbles past a defender. Photo/Jeremy Clark

Olivia Wiess had eight points in the third quarter for Holland. Hadleigh Hilgert made eight free throws in the fourth.

Overall the Dutch were 16-for-26 from the line while the Trojans were 5-for-13.

“We didn’t rebound the basketball at all in the third quarter,” Packard said. “They got on the boards, made some good shots, and we didn’t make good shots when we were open.”

Izzy Hanson-Wilbur finished with eight points for Fruitport. McKenzie Beardsley and Kalli Tawney each hit a pair of three-pointers in the game.

Fruitport’s Alexa Sweet takes a shot. Photo/Jeremy Clark

Hilgert finished with 23 points for the Dutch and Weiss totaled 17.

The victory broke a nine-game losing streak for the Dutch, who are now 3-10 on the season.

The Trojans will host Comstock Park on Friday in an  O-K  Silver  conference  matchup.storageeddieminith brands