Stanhope - For the first quarter, it seemed that the Lenape Valley girls basketball team was going to get the better of the visiting Spartans, but a key defensive adjustment left the Patriots scrambling and on the wrong end of a 53-34 loss. Indeed, the Patriots jumped out to a quick lead, with Sam Baranowski scoring 12 in the opening frame to help her team to a 7 point advantage. Then the Lady Spartans pulled the rug out from under the home team. “Coach Geffken made a great defensive adjustment and it really threw us off,” Patriot head coach Patrick McQueeney said. “It really took us out of our post game. Sam had 17 points and ten rebounds tonight and it took her right out of the game.” The adjustment was one lady Spartan skipper Fred Geffken felt could help cover his team’s cold shooting. “We tried to match up with their point guard and match up with their big kid. Their big kid had like 12 in the first quarter and only scored five more for the rest of the game,” Geffken said. “We just went to the triangle and forced someone else to beat us.” Taking away the Patriots primary offensive threat took the wind out of their sails. “We don’t have that second threat to go to that could knock it out for us,” McQueeney said. “We were always a couple of three-pointers away or a couple of shots away that we just didn’t get.” Despite the victory, Geffken knows his team didn’t live up to their offensive potential. “Our defense was right for us this game. If you can hold someone to 20 points over three periods, you should win,” the coach said. “We did not shoot the ball well, but we shot it well enough. Our shooter didn’t have a great night, but that is what happens. There are some nights where the ball doesn’t go in. That is going to happen.” By the time the Patriots made an adjustment of their own, they were in a 19 point hole they never climbed out of. So for now, David waits to slay Goliath.