The Boone Central girls and boys basketball teams mirrored each other to a large extent on the first weekend of the 2010-11 season.
Both teams struggled on the long season-opening trip to Hartington Friday. Cedar Catholic defeated the Lady Cardinals 50-34 and the Boone Central boys were beaten 64-47 by their Hartington counterparts.
Each bounced back with impressive performances at home Saturday, however, pleasing their respective coaches with the resiliency and effort. The Boone Central girls ran away from Lakeview late to notch a 68-43 victory and the Cardinal boys finished the sweep with a 56-46 decision.
Both Boone Central teams have another busy, difficult week ahead. The Lady Cardinals hosted Crofton Tuesday and will join the BC boys in traveling to Central City Thursday and entertaining Mid-State Conference rival Pierce Friday.
Boone Central encountered a tough, experienced Cedar Catholic Lady Trojan squad in Friday’s season opener and suffered execution and turnover difficulties, leading to a 50-34 loss in Mid-State Conference play.
“Despite a quick start that saw us take an 8-2 lead in the first two minutes, we were very ineffective on offense,” Coach Mike Kennedy commented. “We gave away too many possessions with turnovers and squandered a handful of easy scoring opportunities.
“Still, thanks to a great defensive effort, we were within five late in the third quarter and had a chance to cut the lead to two or three.
“Our effort was good, our execution was not.”
Using a strong game in the paint, Boone Central turned offensive execution into a positive at home Saturday and rebounded with a 68-43 victory over Lakeview, netting 41 points in a dominant second half. “I felt like we matured a little as a team in this game, but we are still far from playing our best basketball,” said Kennedy. “We showed great improvement getting our post players involved – that was the focal point of our game plan. We must be able to play inside-out to be successful this season.
“We really wore them down with our defensive effort and dominated from late in the third quarter until the game was out of reach,” he added. “Shanel Atwood gave us a huge boost off the bench by contributing three 3-point field goals.”
Boone Central Coach Dan Zoucha did not see the effort he was expecting from his young squad in a 64-47 opening loss at Hartington Cedar Catholic Friday.
“This was a disappointing way to open our season,” Zoucha said. “We felt we were ready to start the season with a great effort, but our intensity was low and, therefore, we were sluggish throughout the game.
“We never really challenged Cedar Catholic defensively or in rebounding – they controlled the boards and the pace of the game. These are areas we will need to improve on.”
Zoucha got just the improvement he was looking for Saturday as Boone Central held Lakeview to just 19 second-half points and dominated the boards to key a 56-46 victory.
“We were very proud of the way the team responded. From the outset, we played well on defense and rebounded much better,” Zoucha praised. “Offensively, we were able to spread Lakeview out and get some good looks at the basket.
“We felt we communicated better on both ends of the floor. We still need to commit fewer fouls and be more efficient at the line.”
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