The Mitchell ReportOne of the first things Yazoo City head basketball coach Archie Carlyle told me after his Indians fell to Bailey 51-41 at the Jackson Pepsi Tournament was “that didn’t look like my team.”
It sure didn’t.
Turnovers, easy baskets missed, fouls and missed free throws doomed Yazoo City in their first round match up with the Knights.
Yazoo City prides itself on playing solid defense and making the easy baskets, which includes those “easy” lay ups on fast breaks. During certain stretches Wednesday, the Indians played like they had all season long. However, those stretches were far and few between.
Bailey went on runs of 8-0 in the second quarter, 9-2 in the third and 12-3 to start the fourth and 7-2 (five of which were free throws) to end the game. Giving a team runs like that is a recipe for disaster.
Like I mentioned above, the Indians did have stretches were they were the dominant team. At the beginning of the third quarter, Yazoo City scored nine unanswered points to take a 28-22 lead with five minutes to go in the quarter. However, they would score just two more points the rest of the quarter while Bailey took the two-point lead with nine points.
After that it seemed obvious who would leave the court victorious.
Yet, the Indians still had a shot at pulling off the victory. Junior Derrick Little made back-to-back three pointers that brought the score to 44-39 with 2:51 left to go. In basketball, four points is nothing to overcome. Another big run by the Knights, this time a 7-2 run, sealed the victory.
“At a crucial time late in the fourth quarter we had some free throw opportunities,” Carlyle explained. “We had a chance, but didn’t take advantage of our opportunities.”