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Freshman boys drop second game at home
The Nevada High School freshman boys' basketball team suffered their second loss in as many games this season as they fell at home to the Harrisonville Wildcats by a final score of 57-41.
"They definitely outran us, we just could never catch up," head coach Jason Irwin said. "We had so much more intensity the other night on defense than we did tonight."
Nevada's defense got off to a strong start in the early minutes of the opening period, but were unable to keep up and Harrisonville was quickly able to jump out to a 10-2 lead early in the quarter. Both offenses struggled a bit early in the game, missing open shots and struggling to take advantage of numerous good looks at the basket.
Nevada's offense had trouble finding a rhythm in their ball handling, but was able to come up with a strong rebounding game on both ends of the court to keep the game close. By the time the first period came to a close, the Tigers found themselves with a still manageable, 10-6 deficit.
The strong defense that the Wildcats showed at the start of the game continued through the remainder of the half, allowing them to force turnovers almost at will and come up with a total of 12 steals by the end of the half. Nevada's strong rebounding continued throughout the half as well, but the Tigers quickly fell further behind, taking a 28-13 deficit into the locker room at halftime.
Nevada was the only team to make it to the free-throw line in the first half, but struggled there as well, shooting just 58 percent. "Offensively, we just didn't do the little things right," Irwin said. "We stood still and tried to let the passes come to us."
The second half was a very similar situation to the first for both sides as the Harrisonville defense took control early and never let up. Both teams rebounded the ball very well in the third quarter, but continued shooting woes for Nevada allowed the Wildcats to once again extend their lead, going into the fourth quarter up by 21, at 43-22.
The fourth quarter was yet another defensive clinic by Harrisonville as they added seven more steals -- bringing their total in the game to 22. Both teams showed continued rebounding prowess and Nevada once again dominated the free throw game, but the Tigers were simply no match for Harrisonville's depth and defensive power.
The Tigers were able to get to the free-throw line a total of five times in the second half, shooting 3-for-6 to bring their total in the game to 10-for-18. The strong shooting from the field that Harrisonville showed throughout most of the game proved to be all they would need, however, as they went on to take the victory by a final score of 57-41.
Nevada finished out the game with two players reaching double digits in scoring, led by Chris Enriquez with 14 points. Isaiah Colopy wasn't far behind that total, as he finished out the contest with 12.
After the game, Irwin said "We've had some sickness going, but that's not excuse. We just got outplayed. I do appreciate the boys' effort, they work hard."
The varsity boys were in action on the night as well, falling by a final score of 51-39 at the Carthage Invitational to host team Carthage and dropping their record on the season to 0-2. The freshmen will get their next chance to break into the win column on Monday, as they travel to Carl Junction, while the varsity boys will play another consolation game at Carthage on Saturday.