Slow starts plague Central boys basketball team in losses
Central’s Parker Vaughn defends a Maquoketa Valley player in last week’s 46-26 loss. (Photos by Bev Hamann)
Elliot Kelly takes the ball up the court in last week’s match-up versus the Wildcats.
Corey Weber shoots a free throw for the Warriors.
By Willis Patenaude, Times-Register
The Central boys basketball team lost both of its games last week, bringing its combined season record to 1-4.
In the first game against Maquoketa Valley, the Warriors were undone by a slow start that saw the Wildcats build an early 13-3 lead early. While the Warriors were able to battle back and pull within two points during the second period, they were unable to close the gap further and went into the half down seven points. From there, Central was held to just eight points the entire second half, eventually losing 46-26.
“We have made a habit of digging ourselves a hole in the first few minutes, and will consider adjustments to both our warm up routines and starting lineups in order to address this issue,” coach Brady Stramer said.
The Warrior offense was held to 22 percent shooting, going 9-41 from the field and 5-24 from three-point range, and no starter scored more than five points. Three players, Elliot Kelly, Dan McGreal and Parker Vaughn, all scored five points each and the trio combined for five assists and 12 rebounds. Three other players—Seth Bena, Caden Erickson and Ashton Burroughs—scored three points.
Defensively, the Warriors came away with five steals, one from five different players, and five blocks by Kelly. They even held the Wildcats’ leading scorer, Avery Holtz, to 12 points, which is eight below his season average.
But that effort was undone by an offense still plagued by turnovers, committing 14, and poor rebounding, which is an area Stramer acknowledged the team needs to improve.
“I felt our defense against Maquoketa Valley was pretty strong throughout the night,” he said. “The one area that we needed to be better on the defensive end was rebounding. There were several possessions where we were able to force a missed shot, but were unable to possess the rebound, which eventually led them to getting points.”
“Moving forward, we will have to continue to work hard on the defensive end, and do a better job of holding our opponents to one shot attempt per possession,” he added.
The Warriors took on Clayton Ridge in the second game of the week, and were held to less than 10 points in three out of four periods. The team struggled to shoot the ball and maintain possession and set a season high in turnovers with 31.
Stramer suggested the problem is due to a “lack of movement without the ball and lack of court vision from the individuals with the basketball.”
Combined with the Eagles’ efficient shooting and stifling 1-3-1 defense, the Warriors lost 71-29.
Some of the struggles could be pinned on the Warriors playing four games in five days without practice, but Stramer said that was no excuse.
“We were unable to move the basketball consistently without turning it over, and by the end of the contest, we had a season high in turnovers, which directly led to the big gap in the final score,” he added.
Again, the offense didn’t have a double-digit scorer, with McGreal leading the team with nine points, followed by Vaughn with six, and Bena and Corey Weber each with four. The team shot 26.7 percent from the floor and just 7.7 percent on three point shots, going 1-13. The offense also recorded five assists and four offensive rebounds, while the defense came away with one block from Ethan Palas and three steals, one each from McGreal, Bena and Erickson. The defense also allowed the Eagles to shoot 52.8 percent.
“I keep telling the guys to continue to shoot the ball with confidence and that the ball will start going in. In the couple of practices that we have had since this game, we focused solely on fundamentals like jump stops and bounce passes, as well as getting repetitions against the 1-3-1 zone to try and better prepare us for Tuesday’s game against Turkey Valley, which is a game we expect to see that type of defense again,” Stramer said. “I keep reminding the guys that we are still in the early part of the season and there is a lot of time left to get better. It is a process and we will keep working toward building good habits in practice that hopefully translate to our games.”
However, this will be made even harder as the injury bug to upperclassmen forces lineup and rotational adjustments. This means the team will rely on more junior varsity players with less experience, but Stramer is not lowering the expectations.
“As a collective unit, we have to find a way to not turn the ball over, and to limit our opponents to one-shot possessions,” he said. “I felt that, in both games, the opponents’ offensive numbers had a lot to do with our inability to take care of the basketball, and for that reason was more of a reflection of our struggles on the offensive end rather than the defensive.”
The Warriors will look to overcome some of those struggles with a revamped lineup in a two-game schedule this week. First, they travel to Turkey Valley (2-2) on Dec. 14, then head to South Winneshiek (3-2) on Dec. 17.
