When the Enumclaw High girls traveled to the St. Martin’s University campus for a holiday hoop tournament, they had nothing to lose and everything to gain – most notably experience, which – as Hornet coach Beth Madill has said – cannot be taught, only built upon overtime.

So Madill was certainly eager for her contingent, currently 1-4 in league and 1-7 overall, to accumulate as much experience as possible during the Dec. 29-30 tournament, even though the lessons learned can sometimes be hard to swallow.

The Hornets faced the Class 4A Black Hills Wolves squad in the first day of the St. Martin’s tourney and were annihilated 65-39. There was a silver lining in the dark cloud of defeat though, as Hornet senior guards Hayley Kohler and Perla Saborio accounted for 13 points apiece.

The Hornets girls turned things around against a solid 1A Toledo squad, as Madill called the second day’s endeavor the finest team effort of the season, even though Enumclaw suffered a 55-51 setback at the hands of the Indians.

“After the brutal loss against Black Hills we talked a lot about playing with heart and leaving it all out on the court,” Madill said. “Putting it in perspective I would have to say that I was really proud of the one day improvement. The girls stepped it up and truly playing their hearts out. It was good to see.”

Saborio buried a 3-pointer as the waning seconds ticked off the clock until intermission keeping hope alive for the second half’s proceedings. Additionally, thanks to Kohler putting up a dozen points in the game and seniors Noelle Bauer and Hailey Hall chipping in 10 points each, the Hornets were able to keep the score tight as at the end of the third stanza the scoreboard read 37-36 in favor of Toledo.

The Hornets began to falter in the fourth frame, as they had to commit numerous fouls in an attempt to slow the game and despite junior guard Rebekah Johnson thrilling the Enumclaw faithful with a trey as time expired, it was too little too late.

The Hornets will attempt to improve on their modest record against a competitive tandem of South Puget Sound 3A opponents. Auburn Mountainview invaded Chuck Smith Gymnasium Tuesday – results came too late to include here, but will be posted at www.courierherald.com – and the EHS girls travel to Lakes High Friday.