The Goshen Lady Eagles were handed a tough loss courtesy of the visiting Ariton Purple Cats Tuesday night, who routed the Eagles and stole victory away 54-36.

Ariton set the tone for the game early, putting up the first points for an early lead, but were quickly countered as Goshen tied things up on a shot by Ivia Pollard. Ariton wouldn’t let the Eagles stay close for long, however, and with the help of a quick three point shot by Nicole Mcinnery they reclaimed the lead 7-5. The two teams continued to trade blows throughout the first period before the score settled at 14-6 Ariton to end the first.

The second period brought reprieve for Goshen as a rally from Ariton as Mcinnery put up two shots in a row bringing the score 19-8.

Lynze Price, of Goshen, answered back with a free throw, adding a point to the board, but it wasn’t enough to stop the Cat’s momentum as they responded with shot after shot bringing the score to 23-9.

Another Goshen free throw, this time from the hands of Keyona Taylor, helped close the gap a little more before the half, but didn’t stop the Eagles from returning to the locker room down 25-10.

The second half saw a bit of life from the Goshen attack, as they began to dig their heels in and try to close the gap the first half had left.

The Eagles put up another 11 points in the third period with 9 of the 11 scored by Ivia Pollard, the top shooter for the Goshen Eagles for the game, with the help of Keyona Taylor, leaving the score at 39-23 at the end of the period.

The Purple Cats opened the fourth with another three point shot, but were answered by Pollard, as she put up two free throws to help the team, and then another shot that put the Eagles score up to 27-41.

The small rallies helped bring the Eagles out of their first half slump, but ultimately weren’t enough to catch Ariton, whose lead proved too much of an obstacle to overcome as they finished out the game 54-36.

“We played hard, we always do,” said Pollard.

Pollard also indicated that she felt the team was off to a slow start, but was getting better as the season progressed, and had improved since the start of the season already.

The Goshen Eagles will take a short break from play until Dec. 9, when they go on the road for a match against the Daleville Warhawks.