The Delta Charter girls basketball team may have lost Thursday night, but coach Ronald Ellis said he didn’t mind.

The Lady Strom fell to Cedar Creek, 56-40, but still gained experience along the way.

“It was a good game,” Ellis said. “The game was fairly close throughout. This is the first game we have played man-to-man (defense) the whole time. We played it well for the most part, and I thought we switched well when we had to. Last time they beat us bad because we played zone and we just tried to switch it up. The more they can communicate, the better.”

Cedar Creek used size to its advantage, as post player Anna-Lace Roberson poured in a game-high 29 points.

“She’s (6 feet 4 inches), so you are going to give up some offensive rebounds to that girl,” Ellis said. “She killed us. She’s just so tall. If you don’t block her out, she is going to get every rebound.”

With the loss, Ellis said his team was also reminded of a valuable lesson — progress.

“They are a good team, so it’s no push over,” he said. “I have a lot of veteran players who have been here since seventh and eighth grade, and we are getting better. It’s just experience with the year going on. It’s a good thing.

“Anytime you’re getting better that’s a plus. You always expect more, but the bigger picture is that we are getting better.”

The Lady Storm’s strongest push came in the second quarter, stunning Cedar Creek into a dry spell midway through the period while scoring a couple of quick buckets to tie the game, 20-20.

Shy Blaney nailed a long 3-pointer from the right corner to aid the efforts.

However, Cedar Creek came back stronger with a 9-2 run to end the quarter for a 29-22 halftime lead.

While Delta Charter (19-13, 9-4) could never recover in the second half, Ellis said his team should still be in good shape come next week’s LHSAA Class 1A Playoffs.

The Lady Storm is currently ranked No. 13.

“It is the right time to start getting right for playoffs,” Ellis said. “We will have a first round home game because (our ranking) won’t shift that much. Hopefully we will go up.”

Ellis said he expects just one thing next week.

“Win,” he said.

To get there, Ellis said he isn’t planning on changing much.

“We just have to keep doing what we do — keep practicing,” he said. “It’s one and done. Playoffs are going to be a lot about defense and intensity. Mistakes are going to happen, but we have to limit them and just stay into the game.

“This was a good test. We want to stay on edge. If you’re just winning, winning, winning it makes an upset easy.”

Cedar Creek (boys) 66, Delta Charter 62

Rykeyon Glasper had a double-double with 10 points and 17 rebounds, yet the Delta Charter Storm (10-23, 3-10) fell to Cedar Creek Thursday, 66-22.

Three other players ended in double digits for Delta Charter. Kavarius Whitehead ended with 20 points, Fabiyon Kelley added 14 and Jalen Williams socred another 12 in the loss.

The Delta Charter varsity boys with finish its regular season at 6 p.m. Tuesday when it travels to Mangham.