The late run of success by Manchester Academy’s Mavericks finally came to an end on Tuesday night when they fell 70-38 to Clinton Christian Academy.
Manchester Academy head coach Jacob Iles had a boxing analogy to describe what happened to his team in the contest.
“We got hit in the mouth, and we didn’t get up off the mat,” Iles said.
It all began so well for the Mavericks.
To start the game, Iles’ squad went on an 8-0 run.
Then a change for the worst occurred.
Iles believes the defensive pressure killed them.
“I think their athleticism threw us off balance,” Iles said. “We started off pushing the ball. We were getting into our half court sets. We were stopping their penetration. We were doing everything we wanted to do. Then they started pressing, and we couldn’t handle it.”
CCA ended the quarter with a 26-5 run to give them a 26-13 lead.
Things only progressed downwards for the Mavericks in the second quarter, where they were outscored 27-10, making it a 53-23 game at the half.
The clock began running continuously towards the end of the third quarter and continued in the fourth.
By the time the buzzer sounded, CCA stood victorious by a score of 70-38.
Jon Riley Poe led the Mavs with nine points in the loss.
Iles had time to ponder after the game on what he could have done differently, but he eventually came to the conclusion that it was just a misstep on a longer journey.
“I could’ve burned through every timeout I had, but I don’t know that it would’ve changed that momentum,” Iles said. “Maybe the tournament was bigger than us. This was the first time the boys have gotten to the tournament since who knows when. There are going to be growing pains. Our guys weren’t ready to play at that level on that stage. You can’t have a bad night there. You can’t be off. That was a step we had to take.”
The lesson that the Mavericks were forced to learn was a difficult one.
With the loss came heartache.
But with loss also comes learning.
And Iles believes this will be a galvanizing moment for his team moving into the future.
“Next year will be different,” Iles said. “The season was grind, particularly for our freshmen that had to play six quarters most games. We’ll act like we’ve been there next year. Hopefully, we’ll do that with a higher seed.”
