Hawks again fall behind early

Defensive letdown

You can’t just match baskets with your opponent. So we have to dig down defensively, identify shooters. We were not identifying shooters in transition at all in the first half, but we did better in the second half”

Kritter Hayes, Central Lee boys Head Coach

MEDIAPOLIS — Kritter Hayes likes how his Central Lee boys basketball team battles.
It’s a fight he would rather the Hawks wouldn’t always have to face.
Central Lee’s 71-51 loss to Mediapolis on Tuesday night was built early, when the Bulldogs opened the game with a 19-2 run.
The fact that the Hawks got to within 28-20 late in the second quarter and only trailed 35-22 at halftime was something Hayes appreciated.
“Again, we fight from behind,” Hayes said. “But I don’t want us to be fighting from behind. When we do (fall behind), we’re responding. We could have easily hung our heads and let it continue and snowball. We’re breaking that up a bit. But we have to figure out how can we not fall behind all of the time.”
The Hawks (2-10 overall, 0-8 SEI Superconference South Division) were challenged by the speed of the Bulldogs (7-4, 4-4) all night.
“It seemed like every time we made a shot, we gave up a 3-point shot or something else,” Hayes said. “It was hard. You can’t just match baskets with your opponent. So we have to dig down defensively, identify shooters. We were not identifying shooters in transition at all in the first half, but we did better in the second half.
“They were pushing the ball down the court, and they probably saw that on tape — that’s been where we were breaking down the last couple of games. We’ve got to keep working on that in practice.”
Corbin Pohren led Central Lee with 14 points. Kegan Damico had 13 points.
“I thought Kegan was really good for us,” Hayes said. “We need guys to step up, and I thought he did that tonight.”
Ben Egan led Mediapolis with 18 points. Cole Lipper had 13 points. Max Griffin had 12 points. Jackson Hutcheson and Lance Ludens each had 10 points.