For the Daily Journal
It’s been a similar storyline for Edinburgh boys basketball team.
“We always have one quarter we have trouble scoring; normally it’s the third or the second,” Lancers coach Keith Witty said. “We went about five minutes without scoring and let them spread out. We played behind the rest of the game.”
After leading by one point after the first quarter, the Lancers were outscored 14-6 in the second en route to a 63-50 loss to Hagerstown in the third-place game of the Edinburgh Holiday Classic on Thursday night.
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The Lancers (4-7) closed the deficit to five points at 52-47 with less than two minutes left but could get no closer.
“To their credit they hit some 3s at some key moments,” Witty said of Hagerstown.
The Tigers (4-5) also had a big edge at the foul line, making 15 of 21. The Lancers made just 6 of 16 free throws.
“We’ve been competitive at pretty much every game we’ve played,” Witty said. “We just have to find that one quarter where we put the ball in the hole. I don’t have a magic answer for that. It’s nothing we are doing different in that quarter. We’ve got to be mentally tough and focused for the full 32 minutes, not just three quarters.”
Senior Coltan Henderson was high for the Lancers with 20 points, hitting five 3-pointers.
“Coltan shot the ball well (Thursday night), which he hasn’t done on a consistent basis,” Witty said. “Hopefully, he can build on that and continue to have good shooting nights for us, because we need him to score some points for us.”
Seniors Bryce Burton and Jordan Myers each added 11 points for the Lancers.
Noah Dale paced the Tigers with 15 points. Also scoring in double figures for Hagerstown were Cody Swimm with 11 and Michael Howard with 10.
Edinburgh is now off until playing West Washington Jan. 5.
“We’ve got a few days to clean up some things and then the second half of the season gets rolling,” Witty said.
