LONE TREE - There was no reason to cover your eyes, no reason to feel sorry for anyone, no reason to believe it was a mistake.

The five players on the Cedar Valley Christian girls basketball team earned a standing ovation from the fans at Lone Tree High School Monday night after playing their first game as a member of the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union.

The Huskies trailed by only eight points at halftime before falling to Lone Tree, 55-26, in a non-conference affair.

Cedar Valley Christian left the Northern Illinois Christian Conference after the 2010-11 school year and joined the IGHSAU, seeking stiffer competition and room to grow. Coach Craig Foote and his small band of players viewed Monday's performance as a promising first step.

"I'm proud of our attitude, proud of our competitive spirit, proud of our work ethic," Foote declared. "They did everything we asked them to.

"We asked them to play defense, we asked them to rebound, we asked them to value the ball and make the best pass available. And to the best of their ability, they did all of those things."

Cedar Valley Christian had 12 players in the girls basketball program two years ago and nine players last season, but they have only six players in the entire program this year. One of those six players will begin playing in January, so the Huskies had only five regular players in uniform Monday night.

Taylor Fields, the team manager, was in uniform and could have played if needed, but the five starters played the entire 32-minute game without a break.

"It was fun," said freshman Shelby Hembera, who scored 18 of her team's 26 points. "I'm really proud of us. I think we all played to the best of our abilities. We played our hardest, even though we had only five girls."

Nobody got in foul trouble and nobody got hurt, so Foote did not have to make any changes. But make no mistake, the five girls were tired when it ended.

"Yeah," Hembera said with a smile. "A lot."

Lindsey Cach scored the other eight points for Cedar Valley Christian and hit the first 3-pointer for her team. She's glad to be part of something new for the Huskies.

"We're trying to bring something to our school," she said. "We're just helping them for the future, and it's been good.

"I think having the first game out of the way, we'll be a lot better from here. We'll improve. Every game is going to get better."

Izzy Hoffman, Carly Silver and Alyson Woods joined Hembera and Cach as the iron five for the Huskies. Ellen Rodriguez will begin playing when the next semester begins.

"These girls played their hearts out," said Lone Tree Coach Travis Pierson, who congratulated the CVC players in their locker room after the game. "They knew it was going to be a struggle the whole game.

"I said, 'I really appreciate you guys coming down here, I really appreciate you guys playing. You played strong, you played hard the entire time.'

"I was proud of them and I was pleased to play them," Pierson said. "With only five girls, they did really well."

CEDAR VALLEY CHRISTIAN (26): Hembera 7 4-6 18, Woods 0 0-0 0, Silver 0 0-0 0, Hoffman 0 0-2 0, Cach 3 1-2 8. Totals 10 5-10 26.

LONE TREE (55): Feldman 5 0-0 10, Flemr 7 0-0 14, Mills 1 0-0 2, Chamberlain 4 0-0 8, Edwards 4 0-0 8, M. Schmidt 4 0-0 8, A. Schmidt 0 0-0 0, Heitman 1 0-0 2, Warson 1 0-0 2, Reynolds 0 1-2 1. Totals 27 1-2 55.

Halftime - Lone Tree 27, Cedar Valley Christian 19. 3-point goals - Cach.