Mascoutah topples Highland in Mississippi Valley Conference game
Mascoutah basketball coach Justin Love saw some things he liked from his team and some things that reminded him they are still a young squad trying to evolve into something more accomplished.
After going almost two minutes without a basket to start their Mississippi Valley Conference game against host Highland on Tuesday, Feb. 4, the Indians gradually began to find their shots. Utilizing an 11-3 late second-quarter run, the Indians surged to a 30-12 halftime lead and pulled away in the second half, rolling to a 57-15 victory.
“We had goals that we wanted to work on and get better on and we saw some things we did good on and things that we need to continue to work on, but this a conference game and a game we wanted to kind of move forward on,” Love said.
Both teams started sluggishly, but Mascoutah (13-10, 5-0) managed a 17-6 lead after one quarter.
Up 10 points with just over five minutes left in the second quarter, the Indians took control of the game thanks to an 11-3 run started by Braden Bryant’s putback and capped off by Will Seibert’s driving bucket which made it 30-12 at the half.
“We have a tough time just kind of valuing possessions and making sure that we appreciate getting stops defensively,” Love said. “I think that we did a good job of that today. Today we went out and got some stops and it allowed us to get going offensively.”
In the third quarter, the Indians continued to roll offensively, scoring another 19 points while holding the struggling Bulldogs to just a basket.
The flat third quarter and lack of energy through the night left Highland coach Deryl Cunningham perplexed.
“I just felt like we never really stepped up and played tonight,” Cunningham said. “I just thought we were out of it for whatever reason and I thought we never really got out of our sluggishness.”
Seibert started the fourth quarter with a bucket to push the lead to 51-14 and that triggered the running clock the rest of the game.
The win keeps Mascoutah on top of the MVC standings with four games left and Love is not letting the Indians look too far ahead.
“We’re in a good spot in our conference but every game is a challenge and the other team is trying to beat you, so just step by step we just want to get better and every game gives you that opportunity,” Love said.
Young Bulldogs still finding their way
Highland (2-22, 1-5) is simply trying to find answers and stability. The Bulldogs are starting four freshmen and the youngsters are getting plenty of on the job training this winter.
“We’ve just struggled and we’ve got a bunch of new guys that haven’t played (much) and we’ve struggled scoring in the paint. It’s easier when you can throw the ball down in the paint and have somebody score but we don’t have that luxury yet,” Cunningham said. “We just need to convert it over from practice to the game. We’ve had good practices, but the games have looked totally different.”
Bryant and Seibert lea Mascoutah with 14 and 12 points, respectively. Cade Altadonna paced Highland with six points.