Crothersville’s Devin Morgan goes up for two of the 15 points he scored against Christian Academy of Madison on Saturday night.
Arv Koontz | The Tribune
Crothersville’s Logen O’Sullivan passes to Damian Bowman as Christian Academy of Madison’s Elijah Kummer defends during their game Saturday night.
Arv Koontz | The Tribune
Coach Bryant Layman says he has to find a way for his Crothersville boys basketball team to get off to better starts than what they have in losing their last seven games.
“We’re getting outplayed, and it’s frustrating,” Layman said after Christian Academy of Madison built a 24-3 lead at the end of the first quarter and spoiled the Tigers’ homecoming 62-46.
“Every game, we’ve lost the first quarter. I can’t tell you how many times we come out and have a good game plan and they don’t stick to it,” Layman said.
The Tigers (1-9) missed their first nine shots and had six turnovers, which enabled the visitors to take a 19-0 lead after seven minutes.
Adam Turner finally made a free throw with 44 seconds on the clock in the first period, and Devin Morgan scored the Tigers’ first basket with 6 seconds left in the period.
“The thing is we went to our game plan in quarter number two, and we got them in foul trouble and we worked to get back in the game, then we came out in the third quarter and there we are again,” Layman said.
Morgan scored four baskets and had 11 points in the second period when the Tigers outscored the Defenders 17-12 to trail 36-20 at the half.
Madison outscored the Tigers 15-10 in the third period to take a 51-30 lead into the fourth period.
Layman said, “You’re taking a group of kids that played JV (last season) and put them on the floor and tell them they need to become varsity players. We’ve got to do a better job of getting the ball around the rim. We did a good job of getting the ball to Devin and Zach (Helt).”
Morgan topped the Tigers with 15 points, and Helt scored 10.
The Tigers shot 19-of-54 from the floor, while the Defenders were 25-for-56. The visitors held a 35-20 advantage in rebounds. Damian Bowman was high for the Tigers with seven.
The Defenders (8-6) were led in scoring by Elijah Kummer with 15 points, Clay Carter scored 14 and Adin Gamble 11.
The Tigers are off until Jan. 21 when they host South Central.
“We’ve got two new kids coming in and that is a blessing in disguise (not playing until Jan. 21),” Layman said. “With the two new kids, we will look like a different team. I think our best is yet to come.”
Helt was named homecoming king, and Haley Williams was named homecoming queen. Both are seniors at CHS.