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Blue Springs, MO —
Blue Springs South girls basketball coach Brad Oyler stomped his feet. He shouted until his face was beet red. He called timeout after timeout to plead with his team to just settle down.
Nothing seemed to work.
In Wednesday night’s Blue Springs South-Blue Springs McDonald’s Tournament semifinals against Columbia Hickman, the Jaguars were like a runaway train. Despite his best efforts, Oyler couldn’t steer his team back in the right direction as they let a six-point fourth-quarter lead slip away in a 43-40 loss at Blue Springs High School.
The root of South’s problems was easy to pinpoint. Repeatedly, the Jags (4-1) struggled to get the ball up the court against the Kewpies’ press. After pulling ahead 38-32 with 5:08 to play, the Jags fell apart, committing four turnovers during a stretch in which Oyler burned two timeouts. To make matters worse, South missed four consecutive free throws as Hickman pulled ahead 43-38.
“We’ve worked on (breaking pressure) a lot,” Oyler said. “We just got to standing around and watching, not moving. We had people that didn’t do their responsibility. The other thing is we didn’t look down the floor. We had people that were open and we were too busy with our head down dribbling.”
Oyler struggled to assess the reason for the Jags’ loss of composure. He said it was likely a combination of inexperience coupled with pressure from their closest game to date.
The frustrating thing was that in the half-court setting, South was solid. The Jags appeared to be in complete control early in the fourth as Stevie Anderson scored five points in the period’s first three minutes to give them a six-point advantage.
“It was frustrating to know that we could actually do it,” said Anderson, who finished with 11 points. “But I feel like when we looked at the clock and saw how much time was left, we started to rush it a little bit.”
Even as the game spiraled for the Jags, they still had an opportunity to force overtime. After an 11-0 run gave the Kewpies a 43-38 lead, Brooke Neal knocked down two free throws to slice the margin to three with 35.4 seconds remaining. South then forced a turnover with its own press with 25.7 seconds left.
After failing to set up a play on the ensuing possession, Oyler called time with 7.7 seconds to play. Again, the Jags’ set failed to materialize but Remy Davenport hoisted up a prayer from five foot behind the 3-point line that rattled around the rim and out as time expired.
Cloé Lane scored 11 points and grabbed six rebounds to help lead the Jags, and Davenport added six points, four steals and three boards.
“This is just part of the growing pains,” Oyler said. “It’s there. It’s just going to take a little time.”
South will play Pleasant Hill at 2 p.m. Saturday for third place.
Blue Springs South girls basketball coach Brad Oyler stomped his feet. He shouted until his face was beet red. He called timeout after timeout to plead with his team to just settle down.
Nothing seemed to work.
In Wednesday night’s Blue Springs South-Blue Springs McDonald’s Tournament semifinals against Columbia Hickman, the Jaguars were like a runaway train. Despite his best efforts, Oyler couldn’t steer his team back in the right direction as they let a six-point fourth-quarter lead slip away in a 43-40 loss at Blue Springs High School.
The root of South’s problems was easy to pinpoint. Repeatedly, the Jags (4-1) struggled to get the ball up the court against the Kewpies’ press. After pulling ahead 38-32 with 5:08 to play, the Jags fell apart, committing four turnovers during a stretch in which Oyler burned two timeouts. To make matters worse, South missed four consecutive free throws as Hickman pulled ahead 43-38.
“We’ve worked on (breaking pressure) a lot,” Oyler said. “We just got to standing around and watching, not moving. We had people that didn’t do their responsibility. The other thing is we didn’t look down the floor. We had people that were open and we were too busy with our head down dribbling.”
Oyler struggled to assess the reason for the Jags’ loss of composure. He said it was likely a combination of inexperience coupled with pressure from their closest game to date.
The frustrating thing was that in the half-court setting, South was solid. The Jags appeared to be in complete control early in the fourth as Stevie Anderson scored five points in the period’s first three minutes to give them a six-point advantage.
“It was frustrating to know that we could actually do it,” said Anderson, who finished with 11 points. “But I feel like when we looked at the clock and saw how much time was left, we started to rush it a little bit.”
Even as the game spiraled for the Jags, they still had an opportunity to force overtime. After an 11-0 run gave the Kewpies a 43-38 lead, Brooke Neal knocked down two free throws to slice the margin to three with 35.4 seconds remaining. South then forced a turnover with its own press with 25.7 seconds left.
After failing to set up a play on the ensuing possession, Oyler called time with 7.7 seconds to play. Again, the Jags’ set failed to materialize but Remy Davenport hoisted up a prayer from five foot behind the 3-point line that rattled around the rim and out as time expired.
Cloé Lane scored 11 points and grabbed six rebounds to help lead the Jags, and Davenport added six points, four steals and three boards.
“This is just part of the growing pains,” Oyler said. “It’s there. It’s just going to take a little time.”
South will play Pleasant Hill at 2 p.m. Saturday for third place.
