DANE FUELLING
WZBD.com
DECATUR – Entering Saturday night’s game, it appeared the Bellmont Braves might have a chance to feed off a big home crowd against a team with an identical record and come away with a win that might turn around the team’s fortunes in January.
Situated directly above the Braves in the NE8 standings, the Leo Lions had only won one of their last five contests, with the one win against East Noble the only thing distinguishing them from the Braves.
A signature win was not to be, however, as the Braves began the evening 0-17 from beyond the arc and were never in the game, falling to the Lions by a 61-36 final.
Gabe LaGrange led the Lions with 16 points.
“Definitely a tough night for us, just a perfect storm of not hitting anything and them hitting everything,” said coach Payton Selking afterwards. “I thought we had great looks early in the game, a lot of open looks outside that just didn’t go.”
A microcosm of just how poor the luck was on the night for the Braves came in the fourth quarter. Cam Summers downed a shot to cut the Leo lead to 30 at 56-26. Summers had six points at that point and Daniel Selking, who led all scorers with 23, had 20 points. On the next possession, Selking shot a three from the volleyball line – and drained it. It was the first made three of the night for the team and the final made shot for the sophomore scoring sensation.
The bucket simply had a lid on it for the Braves up to that point, but only on one end of the court it seemed.
“I don’t think it was necessarily anything physical or tangible that led to a night like we had,” continued Selking. “Most of the looks were in range and rhythm for guys that we want shooting. Jack (Schultz) and Cam (Summers) both shoot a good percentage from three and they know they have the green light to shoot open shots. Unfortunately, with each miss, our confidence went lower and lower.”
Leo knocked down 14 shots from downtown, including eight in a sensational first half that saw them build a big, 30-15 lead over the Braves.
Coach Selking noted that the Braves simply have to be mentally tougher to stay in games like Saturday.
“We have to be better about playing with a next play mentality,” he said, “and trusting that the next shot is going to go in. We can’t let a couple misses completely change our mindset and take away all of our energy. We seemed a bit slow defensively after each one of those misses.”
Daniel Selking did everything he could to keep the Braves in the game, seemingly being hacked and shoved every time he touched the ball. He still managed to score 13 of the team’s 15 points in the half, going to the line on five different occasions.
A big crowd was on hand to watch the 100+ young cheerleaders as part of the annual BHS Cheer Camp.
The game really got away from the Braves in the third quarter with only one made shot for the home team against an 18-point quarter for the visitors, who seemingly subbed endlessly throughout the night. Coach Derek Hinen’s team went 13 deep for the victory.
Along with Selking’s 23, the Braves got eight points from Cameron Summers. Isaac Baker knocked down a three once the lid was lifted in the fourth quarter and both Jack Johnson and Jack Schultz had two points.
The good news for the Braves is the next matchup will give them a second chance. Taking on East Noble in Decatur on Thursday, the team will hope to start a great weekend for Bellmont basketball overall with their first NE8 victory of the year against fellow 0-5 East Noble.
“When it comes to Thursday,” said the Bellmont coach, “we have to take care of ourselves. There are lessons to learn from tonight, but we have to move on. We need to come out with better energy and be ready to execute on both ends of the floor.”
Additionally, the Braves have been competitive all season long in their sectional, beating Heritage and keeping it respectable against New Haven and Norwell. With eight games left in the season, there is still plenty of reason for optimism in the Braves’ camp.
Selking says it’s not really about the overall record at this point in the season.
“I want our guys to play to their potential and use these next four weeks to get us ready to compete for a sectional. Responding to night starts with winning three practices this week.”
About the Author
