Archives > Sports > Schools
Print
E-mail
Comment
Rate
RSS
Share
Early setbacks: North boys can't overcome early deficit, fall to Lovejoy
By Richard C. White, rwhite@starlocalnews.com
LUCAS -- Despite several moments of strong play, an 11-point first quarter deficit proved too much for the McKinney North boys to overcome as the Bulldogs fell 65-57 to Lovejoy Tuesday night on the road.
"It was a bad first quarter and a bad first half," said Darryll Craft, North head coach. "The first quarter was horrible. We got better in the second half, we got better throughout the game. I'm proud of the effort, but disappointed in the execution."
Four different North players reached double digits in the loss. Julion Pearre had a game-high 16 points, followed by Colin Curran's 15, Bryson Brown's 13 and Jola Otubu's 11.
Lovejoy was able to dictate the tempo by not allowing the usually fast-paced North squad to run up and down the court as they're accustomed to doing.
"We looked at the scouting report and checked off the things we needed to do, which we executed tonight," said Kyle Herrema, Lovejoy head coach. "Our kids took the game plan and did a wonderful job controlling the temp."
Lovejoy (8-8) leapt out to a quick 8-2 lead. North (8-7) would gradually cut it to 10-8. Lovejoy, though, would go on a 9-0 run to finish out the first quarter, 19-8. Lovejoy spread the wealth around early as five different Leopards scored in the opening frame.
"In the first half especially we got some great driving opportunities," Herrema said. "We ran the ball really well and got the ball inside, so we ran some motion, got some movement and created some isolations in the post, which gave us some good looks inside."
Guard Elias Olvera, post Chris Ford and forward Trevor Eckard led the way for Lovejoy. Ford had a team-high 15 points, followed by Eckard's 14 and Olvera's nine.
"Elias did an awesome job controlling tempo tonight," Herrema said. "And Chris did an incredible job inside, he took his time in the post and got some people up and Trevor did a great job on the glass, too."
Both defenses would hold the other's offense to only one basket each through the first half of the second quarter. Things would quickly change in the remaining four minutes of the quarter.
Trailing 27-12, North scored six points in a flurry in the final minute as Curran banked a layup, followed by a corner shot from the edge of the paint by Pearre and a no-look twisting layup from Brown. The Leopards, though, would add a shot of their own into the mix for the 29-18 halftime lead.
North came out stronger in the second half. A tight battle ensued as North matched Lovejoy point for point for most of the quarter as the game's next 24 points were evenly distributed between the two.
While North prevented Lovejoy from gaining any ground, the Bulldogs themselves failed to make up any ground until the very end of the heated third quarter, as the Leopards led 43-33 heading into the final frame.
The start of the quarter proved beneficial to North as the persistent Bulldogs managed to cut it to within six when Curran shot a three-pointer from the corner of the arc.
"They got hot at the end with some threes," Herrema said. "They're an unbelievable three-point shooting team, so we know what they're capable of. We just have to make it tough for them on every single shot."
North would later cut it to just five on a free throw from Brown inside of the final two minutes, 55-50. With a two-shot lead and the clock in their favor, Lovejoy played keep-away, forcing North to foul as the Leopards would make the shots they needed to hold on and claim the district win.
"The difference was the first quarter," Craft said. "Especially against a great fundamentally sound team like Lovejoy that's not going to let you get back in it. We needed to claw and scrap and I think we did that, but this was the third or fourth game that we've gotten behind in the first quarter and had to fight and fight. You can't do that against good teams."
While the first quarter may have been their undoing, Craft is proud of the relentless effort his team displayed moving forward, which will only serve to help them as they progress deeper into the district season.
"After we were down, we played harder and got after it more," Craft said. "We never quit."
The following are comments from the readers.
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
You must register with a valid email to post comments.
Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments.
Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments.
Registered users sign in here:
Become a Registered User
- Return to: Mckinney North «
- Home «
- Top of Page ^
