TIPTON, Mo. - The Russellville boys' varsity team lost a tough game against Chamois 48-29 on Nov. 28 in the Tipton basketball tournament.
The game was close in the beginning as Russellville ended the first quarter only trailing 13-10, but the Indians struggled to get their offense going throughout the game.
Head Coach Jay Allen said Chamois' defense was impressive and that his team was struggling to finish shots when contact was involved.
"Our team struggled finishing with contact," Allen said. "We had good looks and lots of drives, we just didn't finish as well as we hoped."
In the second quarter, the Indians were held scoreless until 3:24 left to play in the half and they only scored six points in the quarter. The team soon found itself down nine points in the half 25-16. Beau Bryant led the team in scoring with 12 points.
Even with the team struggling to score, Allen said he wants his team to keep looking for good shots and to take them if they have a good look at the basket.
"I tell them to keep shooting," Allen said. "I tell them to keep attacking. If we decide that it is a poor shot selection, then we discuss our decisions and opportunities for better shots."
Allen said the team's ability to score should improve as the season proceeds.
It did not get much better for the team as even though they started the third quarter playing more aggressively on both sides of the court; trouble on offense hurt them in the quarter. Chamois would go on to outscore them 16-6 in the third quarter thanks to a 9-4 run to end the quarter. Chamois hung on for the win.
Allen was happy with his team's defensive play during the game.
"Our defense was a positive for us," Allen said. "We are young and small, and I thought we swarmed very well at times. I thought we generated a lot of deflections and turnovers against a very disciplined and seasoned Chamois squad. I am very happy with the performance of a couple of our sophomores, who don't have any varsity experience."
The Indians only made one free throw as they were 1-6 from the line but they did not give Chamois a lot of free-throw attempts either as Russellville only had eight fouls in each half.
"That hurts the score when we are driving so much, getting fouled and not hitting free-throws," Allen said.
Russellville had 12 turnovers in the game which is 22 fewer turnovers than in the previous game.
While the team struggled, Allen said the team will get better with experience.
"This is almost a completely new team, with a lot of young, inexperienced players who are searching for some chemistry on the court," Allen said. "Three of the five varsity starters against Chamois had zero varsity experience coming into the game; Russellville is getting better every rep."