NEW WASHINGTON
Giving up 44 points in the first half almost never translates to a tally in the win column.
The Medora boys basketball team trailed 44-26 at halftime Thursday and went on to fall 78-52 at New Washington.
In the first quarter, the Mustangs opened on a 12-4 run behind six points from 6-foot-6 sophomore Stevie Mack.
Chase Booker stopped the Hornets’ cold spell with a basket at the 3:07 mark.
However, New Washington answered with back-to-back 3-pointers from Zach Moore and Logan Miles.
The Mustangs netted four 3-pointers in the opening eight minutes of play to lead 18-8.
Hornets junior Kam Flynn buried a 3-pointer with 7:15 remaining in the first half, but Miles answered with a trey for New Washington on the next possession.
From 5:15 to 3:06 the Mustangs went on a 10-0 run backed by 3-pointers from Miles and Andrew House.
At halftime the home team had buried nine shots from behind the arc.
“Our point of emphasis coming into the game was to defend the 3-pointer and rebound,” Hornets coach Michael Leitzman said. “They have a lot of size, but have a bunch of guards who can shoot the 3 ball. We let them make nine 3’s that first half. We talked about that in the second half — we didn’t make any adjustments, just told them to defend the 3 better. We defended well but we didn’t rebound.”
The Mustangs distributed the ball well as six different players scored in the third quarter outscoring the Hornets 19-12.
Up 63-40, New Washington was able to hang onto its lead for the victory in the fourth quarter.
“Defensively we were much better the second half,” Leitzman said. “We have up 44 points in that first half; you’re not going to win a basketball game giving up that much. We need to take more pride defensively, get back to where we were midseason because I think we’ve taken a few steps back defensively.”
Flynn led the Hornets with 16 points and Booker added 14.
The Mustangs out-rebounded Medora 29 to 17 at the final whistle.
“Offensively, there isn’t much I can complain about,” Leitzman said. “We had guys cutting to the basket and stepping up and shooting the basketball. We did a good job taking care of the ball with them pressing the whole game.”
Throughout the game, Leitzman experimented with different groups of players on the floor in preparation for the postseason.
“We kind of want to develop a little bit more of a bench come sectional time,” Leitzman said. “Looking at the films, in our fourth quarters we’ve looked dead. I’m trying give our guards a little more of a break so that at the end of the game we’re ready to go.”
Medora (6-15) will travel to Washington Catholic on Feb. 21.