Consistency lacking for Wildcats in loss at North Adams
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
SEAMAN — For the second time in two games this season, the Whiteoak Wildcats spotted their opponents a first-half lead they were unable to overcome. The first time, it happened at Notre Dame, and on Tuesday, it occurred at North Adams as the 'Cats fell, 60-54.
Even though this was their non-Southern Hills Athletic Conference meeting, Wildcat head coach Tom Wessner said following the game that if there is one word he wants to talk to his team about, it is "consistency," as that is something his team has lacked at the start of the season.
"Consistency is what we are looking for," Wessner said. "We need to play with that from now on and find it. Don't get me wrong, there were times when I'm pleased with our effort and our basketball I.Q., but I'm also up and down because sometimes we haven't done things as well as I would like."
WHS (0-2) led early after a game-opening jumper from senior Luke Taggert, who tied for the team-high in scoring with 18 points (three rebounds). From there, the final time the Wildcats led in the game was at the 3:34 mark of the first off a jumper from senior Doc Seip, who also scored 18 points for the Wildcats.
Seip also totaled seven rebounds and was 8-of-11 from the field even as he was in foul trouble for a majority of the first half with three.
Though WHS trailed for most of the game, they did rally back from being down by as many as 14 points in the mid stages of the third, to cutting the lead to within six points with 39.4 remaining and to within four off a 3-pointer by Gage Carraher with 16.1 left following a 3-pointer.
"The first two games of the year, we've given our opponents double digits, and we've proven we can't come back from them," Wessner said. "We can't continue to do that.
"We need to get better looks and have better shot selection and better defense."
As for the opening frame, it was North Adams (2-0) who tied the score three times at two, four and six … then by the end of the frame, NA led 17-8 as they scored the quarter's final 11 points in a span of 3:19, including 3-pointers by Kris King and Devin Gardner.
Leading NA in scoring was Sheridan Carroll with 18 points, including two 3-pointers in the first half. He was followed by King with 12 with two 3-pointers and Levi Bales with 12, including eight in the first half.
By the end of the second frame, the Green Devils led 33-22. At the start of the quarter, WHS cut the NA lead to 10 with a jumper after grabbing a rebound for a 17-10 score.
[[In-content Ad]]
From there, NA went on a run of 9-2, including a 3-pointer from Carroll with 5:47 left in the half. Whiteoak senior Carraher scored five points in a row (one 3-pointer) to cut the NA lead to nine, followed by two points by Taggert for a WHS run of 7-0 in a span of under 2:00, forcing NA to call a timeout with a lead of 26-19.
Following the timeout, Gardner sank a 3-pointer for NA as the Green Devils outscored WHS 7-1 to end the quarter, while putting Seip in foul trouble along the way. Seip had three fouls in the first half, two in the opening quarter as he left he game with 54.7 left in the first with two fouls and returned with 3:22 left in the second. He picked up foul number three with 1:05 on the second-quarter clock.
"We run a lot of things through Doc, and when he's not out there, we have to change our style," Wessner said. "We are picking up things and are still working at it."
The Wildcats finished the third down by eight as they outscored NA 18-15 in the frame but did trail by the aforementioned 14 points with 4:27 left in the third following a 3-pointer from Carroll.
WHS ended the third with a 7-1 run in the final 2:19 with points by Tyler Williams and Seip.
Whiteoak also outscored NA 14-12 in the final quarter with points by Carraher, Seip and Taggert. Seip scored nine of his 18 points in the fourth.
For the game, WHS shot 6-of-13 from the free-throw line, while NA was 10-of-23.
The Wildcats will play again on Friday as they travel to Fayetteville.
In JV play, North Adams defeated WHS 33-30. Leading WHS was Jason Jones with 15 points and Nick Wardlow with seven. For NA, Blake Bradley totaled 13 and Blake Anderson scored eight.
Even though this was their non-Southern Hills Athletic Conference meeting, Wildcat head coach Tom Wessner said following the game that if there is one word he wants to talk to his team about, it is "consistency," as that is something his team has lacked at the start of the season.
"Consistency is what we are looking for," Wessner said. "We need to play with that from now on and find it. Don't get me wrong, there were times when I'm pleased with our effort and our basketball I.Q., but I'm also up and down because sometimes we haven't done things as well as I would like."
WHS (0-2) led early after a game-opening jumper from senior Luke Taggert, who tied for the team-high in scoring with 18 points (three rebounds). From there, the final time the Wildcats led in the game was at the 3:34 mark of the first off a jumper from senior Doc Seip, who also scored 18 points for the Wildcats.
Seip also totaled seven rebounds and was 8-of-11 from the field even as he was in foul trouble for a majority of the first half with three.
Though WHS trailed for most of the game, they did rally back from being down by as many as 14 points in the mid stages of the third, to cutting the lead to within six points with 39.4 remaining and to within four off a 3-pointer by Gage Carraher with 16.1 left following a 3-pointer.
"The first two games of the year, we've given our opponents double digits, and we've proven we can't come back from them," Wessner said. "We can't continue to do that.
"We need to get better looks and have better shot selection and better defense."
As for the opening frame, it was North Adams (2-0) who tied the score three times at two, four and six … then by the end of the frame, NA led 17-8 as they scored the quarter's final 11 points in a span of 3:19, including 3-pointers by Kris King and Devin Gardner.
Leading NA in scoring was Sheridan Carroll with 18 points, including two 3-pointers in the first half. He was followed by King with 12 with two 3-pointers and Levi Bales with 12, including eight in the first half.
By the end of the second frame, the Green Devils led 33-22. At the start of the quarter, WHS cut the NA lead to 10 with a jumper after grabbing a rebound for a 17-10 score.
[[In-content Ad]]
From there, NA went on a run of 9-2, including a 3-pointer from Carroll with 5:47 left in the half. Whiteoak senior Carraher scored five points in a row (one 3-pointer) to cut the NA lead to nine, followed by two points by Taggert for a WHS run of 7-0 in a span of under 2:00, forcing NA to call a timeout with a lead of 26-19.
Following the timeout, Gardner sank a 3-pointer for NA as the Green Devils outscored WHS 7-1 to end the quarter, while putting Seip in foul trouble along the way. Seip had three fouls in the first half, two in the opening quarter as he left he game with 54.7 left in the first with two fouls and returned with 3:22 left in the second. He picked up foul number three with 1:05 on the second-quarter clock.
"We run a lot of things through Doc, and when he's not out there, we have to change our style," Wessner said. "We are picking up things and are still working at it."
The Wildcats finished the third down by eight as they outscored NA 18-15 in the frame but did trail by the aforementioned 14 points with 4:27 left in the third following a 3-pointer from Carroll.
WHS ended the third with a 7-1 run in the final 2:19 with points by Tyler Williams and Seip.
Whiteoak also outscored NA 14-12 in the final quarter with points by Carraher, Seip and Taggert. Seip scored nine of his 18 points in the fourth.
For the game, WHS shot 6-of-13 from the free-throw line, while NA was 10-of-23.
The Wildcats will play again on Friday as they travel to Fayetteville.
In JV play, North Adams defeated WHS 33-30. Leading WHS was Jason Jones with 15 points and Nick Wardlow with seven. For NA, Blake Bradley totaled 13 and Blake Anderson scored eight.