Frustration is setting in for coach Gary Beals as the Winston Academy basketball programs have hit a snag after the Christmas holidays.
The boys began the rough week by taking on the defending state champions of Simpson Academy. The Patriots were falling behind 25-4 in the first quarter, and the game was in hand quickly for the Cougars as they dominated WA in a 70-29 blowout.
The Patriots couldn’t score double digits in a quarter and had 10 points at the half as Simpson built a commanding 45-10 lead. Bryson Wright and Jackson Hudson scored six points each as the team’s leading scorers.
In the game against Lamar, the home team came out and zoned WA, making things difficult on the offensive end. WA scored just two points in the first quarter and would lose 69-31 in another blowout defeat. It was 42-13 at the break, and Lamar never looked back.
Omar Scott had 14 points to lead the way.
The losses dropped the Patriots to 10-9 on the year with a 2-5 record in district play. With two more district games this week against Park Place and Leake Academy at home, Beals is looking for some fight out of his players and more consistency on the offensive end.
“We struggle to shoot, especially if you play a zone. We played defense more than we played offense and settled more than attacking,” Beals said. “We’ve just got to work. We’ve got Park Place coming and just have to go to work. We have a ‘woe is me mentality’”.
Girls
Many of the same issues came for the Lady Patriots this week, but Beals thought his team didn’t have the guns to fight off the district foes.
It was almost two identical outcomes against Simpson and Lamar School. It started with a 56-24 loss to Simpson in a game in which the Lady Cougars did what they could to take away the team’s best player in Haley Bradford, and the Lady Pats failed to have much production elsewhere.
Bradford finished with eight points; the next top scorer was Julia Gregory, with six. Bradford also had seven rebounds.
It was much the same against Lamar School in a 58-25 loss. Bradford had 12 points and six rebounds, but no one else had more than four points.
“We were just outmanned in those two games. Lamar pressed us, and we struggled with that,” Beals said. “It was hard to get over the hump against those kinds of teams. I want to see better effort and more fight from our girls. We’re struggling with confidence, and we’ve got to overcome that.”
The Lady Pats are now 12-9 and 1-6 in district play this year. They will also finish the district slate this week against Park Place and Leake at home on Tuesday and Friday,, respectively. In addition, Tuesday will be the team’s Senior Night.
