Slow starts have come back to haunt El Dorado
After a close loss earlier in the season, El Dorado girls' basketball coach Jae Kell hoped it would be a learning experience for her young team.
After Saturday's 50-46 setback against Hot Springs, the Lady Wildcats' third down-to-the-wire defeat this season, it's no longer about learning, it's about understanding how to win.
In each loss, El Dorado has rallied in the fourth quarter. Kell said her team needs to rally from the opening tip.
“Our kids fight. They fight like their lives depend on it – after they get down,” Kell said. “What I'm trying to teach them is we have to fight like that before we get down.
“They fight hard. They want to win. We're going to go back to the drawing board and try to figure out why we can't get our first quarters right.”
On Saturday, El Dorado trailed Hot Springs 17-5 at the end of the opening quarter. The Lady Wildcats were down by 11 with seconds left in the third before cutting the deficit to two with a shot to tie the game in the final seconds.
In a 46-45 loss to Hot
Springs Lakeside, El Dorado trailed 26-10 in the first half. The Lady Cats rallied and took the lead with 2:09 remaining.
In a 75-70 loss to Maumelle, El Dorado trailed 72-51 with 5:07 left in the fourth quarter before cutting the margin to three, with a 3-point attempt to tie missing its mark.
“I'm ready to be on the other side of some close games. I really do feel we're right there,” said Kell. “We're on the cusp of being the team that's on the top side. Until then, we're going to go to work and we're going to practice until we can be on that top side. It's not going to just come. We're going to have to work at it and we're going to have to be better.”
The Lady Wildcats are 1-3 in conference play with a big home game against White Hall scheduled for Tuesday. For El Dorado, winning in the fourth quarter could be much simpler if the game isn't lost in the first.
“That is the goal for all next week. That is probably going to be our main focus for the entire week,” said Kell. “What's our practice starting like? I know how it's going to finish and end. But I want to see us start practice with more intensity and hopefully that will translate to the game.”