Robservations: Breakdown at Sparta inexplicable
Something about Tuesday night’s unbelievable girls loss at White County has put an old-school U2 song in my head. I just can’t get rid of it.
“I can’t believe the news today. Oh, I can’t close my eyes and make it go away… Sunday, bloody Sunday… Sunday, bloody Sunday…”
I’m not sure what put that chorus in my head, but it might have to do with the fact I heard White County’s public address announcer say “Brooke Sunday, two points” 10 times during Tuesday’s loss. As good as Brooke Sunday was, however, it wasn’t her ability to find the basket that was the real difference-maker in Tuesday’s game. Instead, it was Warren County’s inability to hit shots that really sealed the Lady Pioneers’ fate.
According to the unofficial Duke Rice statistics from Tuesday’s contest (which can easily be accessed, if you happen to be looking over Duke’s shoulder while he’s keeping them), the Lady Pioneers hit seven 3-pointers during Tuesday’s game.
Normally, if you hear a team hit seven treys, you’d think they were putting up a lofty scoring total, and well on their way to a victory. But when you add the fact the Lady Pioneers put up 28 3-point attempts, things start to get a little shaky.
The truly inexplicable stat wasn’t the 3-point percentage, however. What was really odd was the fact the Lady Pioneers fared better from 3-point land than they did from inside the arc.
Shooting 24 2-pointers (again, thanks to Duke for the unofficial stats), WCHS hit just five — for a paltry 21 percent shooting percentage. They were less accurate when they were closer to the basket. Unbelievable.
I know fans can’t stand to hear “negative” talk about their team, so I’ll be positive. I’m positive that Oakland’s girls will come into the gym tonight looking to avenge their narrow loss to Warren County from earlier this season. And if the Lady Pioneers shoot as poorly as they did Tuesday night, I’m positive the Lady Pats will get that revenge.
• On the other end of the spectrum, I was positive the Pioneers would be in trouble Tuesday night, when I learned starting post Kyle Thompson was out sick.
But the Pioneers were positive they’d prove me wrong.
I agree falling to the Warriors by four points was disappointing, and losing after having legitimate chances to win the game in its closing moments was heart-breaking.
But just the fact that the Pioneers put themselves in position to miss that comeback says something, and the fact they did it without one of their regular starters says even more. Let’s hope for a speedy recovery for Kyle, but until he’s back at 100 percent, it’s nice to see there are gamers like Jeremiah Hodges who can step up to the challenge.
The more I mulled over Tuesday’s loss in my head, the more I thought about some recent games, when Warren County’s boys found themselves down by similar margins and seemed to hang their heads about it. I remember a home contest — against a certain diminutive head coach who shall remain nameless — where the Pioneers came out of the halftime locker room looking like they’d just watched a puppy get run over in the parking lot.
They were down a hefty margin, sure. But looking at their faces before the third quarter started, you could tell they were already beaten.
That wasn’t the case Tuesday night. There was third- and fourth-quarter fight in that team, and that’s something you like to see, even if you don’t come out on the winning end of the final score.
It’s the kind of fight you like to see every night, and it’s the kind of fight the Pioneers will have to show if they hope to notch a district win or two before this season ends.