DANE FUELLING
WZBD.com
A third loss in a row, coming off a ten-day break because of an early exit in the ACAC tournament, meant the South Adams Starfires had plenty to work on in practice this week. Losing by 14 last Friday to Jay County, coach Kyle Roe likely wanted to spend his next five practices getting back to basics, working hard to get back to where he thought the team should be.
Instead, he got a snowstorm and canceled practices.
“We just made the best of it,” said coach Roe. “I gave the players assignments of what film to watch to prepare for a couple of teams, plus I sent out the scouting report for them to review.”
Roe noted that when the boys finally got back in the gym mid-week, they were ready to go.
“The couple practices we did have, I thought were really good.”
Despite all these obstacles, the Starfires took care of a Southern Wells team that offers plenty of matchup problems Friday night in the Stardome (57-43), then turned around and won again on the road against a sectional opponent with a better record in Whitko (56-44).
Coach Roe noted that despite making the best of a rough schedule for the week, the lack of normality was evident.
“We looked sluggish and a little rusty,” agreed Roe, “especially in the first half of Friday night’s game.”
Tytus Lehman led the Stars Saturday night with 21 points. 16 of them came in the second half.
Gavin Herring had 11 points, while Derek McKean had seven.
With that big weekend under their belts, the Stars see themselves heading in the right direction.
“Our schedule was pretty tough the first half of the season,” remarked the coach. “I think we played some really good basketball there early on, but we just kept coming up short in games we could win.”
The Starfires only victory in the month of December was a blowout win over a bad Churubusco team.
“Some of it (early struggles) was that we were still implementing a few things and covering some things and there were youthful mistakes,” remembers Roe.
If it weren’t for a one-point loss on the road at Blackford (now 14-3), the Stars would have had their best January in years with a 5-2 record.
“I think we have a good understanding of who we are and what maximizes our potential of winning,” said Roe after Saturday’s victory. “Our confidence is growing while we are still having fun competing. I’m excited for the direction we are heading.”
The Stars will host non-IHSAA Fort Wayne Homeschool Hawks Monday before returning to normal play at Woodlan Thursday night.
About the Author
