AUBURN – Turnovers are fine if you’re a baker. When it comes to basketball, the cupboard should be bare.

Edward Little committed 40 turnovers and Morse hit the shots they had to down the stretch as the Shipbuilders defeated EL 43-38 in KVAC girls’ basketball action Tuesday night.

“Turnover after turnover after turnover,” said EL coach Jim Ladd. “We didn’t cut to the ball the way we had worked on it in practice and we had some kids try to take the ball and run with it before they actually had it. That’s too many turnovers for any team in the KVAC.”

Despite the errors, it was a game the Red Eddies were not only in until the final minutes, but actually had a chance to win.

The death knell came at the hands of Morse’s Sydney Perkins with 2:40 remaining.

With the Eddies holding a 36-35 lead, Perkins let the long ball fly and the 3-pointer put the Shipbuilders in front for good.

Allison O’Dare hit a field goal and Jenise Lucas calmly sank a pair of free throws to solidify the win.

“You have to give Morse credit tonight,” said Ladd. “Tonight they were better than us. They made the big shots when they needed them. The kid hit the three and kind of dented our hopes a little.”

“This is a game that two weeks ago we would have lost,” said Morse coach Tom Morong. “We’re making adjustments to win those kind of games now. We hit two big foul shots late in the game and two weeks ago we would have missed those foul shots.”

The early pace matched the frigid winds outside. It took close to five minutes for either team to score. Michelle Bernier scored six of her nine points for the game in the opening frame as the hosts held a 7-5 lead at the first break.

Morse grabbed the momentum in the second quarter and held a 15-13 lead at the half.

Consecutive three-point plays by Brittney French gave Edward Little the lead back. The lead see-sawed back and forth before Perkins’ bomb.

“We played very well in the third quarter,” said Ladd.

Perkins led all scorers with 15 points for Morse. Stephanie Suggs added 10 for the Shipbuilders.

French led Edward Little with 12 points. Kate Dargie added eight.

“You have to come to play every night,” said Ladd. “And tonight we didn’t come to play.”

[email protected]