Lions stung by Sheridan at Lakeside tournament
Facing Sheridan in its first competition of the Lakeside Classic tournament, a second-quarter run spelled doom for Jessieville Monday night at Lakeside Athletic Complex.
After a basket by Lorenz Fahrenbacher gave the Lions a 23-22 lead, Sheridan closed the second quarter on a 9-0 run and pulled away in the second half for a 67-44 win.
“We never got over the hump once we gave up that run at the end of the half,” Jessieville coach Jared White said. “It was the little things; we gave up back-to-back offensive rebounds and then lost a guy in transition.”
Six points from Alex Burleson and a bucket by Bryan Morgan pulled Jessieville within 33-39 midway through the third quarter, but Sheridan’s Tyler Cacciatori had seven points down the stretch to give the Yellowjackets a comfortable 48-37 lead entering the final frame.
“We cut it to six in the second half, and then had back-to-back plays where we lost our man and gave up something easy,” said White. “There wasn’t a whole lot of adjustments to be made other than we just need to change our toughness level. They kind of hit us in the mouth in the third quarter.”
Heath Alexander scored six points while Jackson Coleman and Cacciatori each scored four in the fourth quarter as Sheridan pulled away with a 19-7 advantage.
Behind five quick points from Cacciatori, the Yellowjackets opened the game on a 10-2 run before the Lions found their groove. Facing a double-team on most possessions, Burleson recorded six points in the first quarter as Jessieville pulled within 16-10.
“Alex is going to be guarded a different way than he was last year, and it’s a learning experience for every single guy on the floor,” White said. “When we sub right now, our football guys have been with us about a week. We’re limited to what we can run offensively, but adversity brings out character. We’ll find out what we’re made of moving forward.”
With two points each from Jacob Bearden, Chade Pedersen, Braxton Shifflett and Fahrenbacher, the Lions got a balanced scoring effort to open the second quarter before Sheridan’s Tyler Cleveland took over.
The senior scored eight points in the period, burying a three-pointer before the buzzer to give the Yellowjackets a lead they wouldn’t surrender.
Cacciatori led all scorers with 20 points while Cleveland finished with 15. Burleson paced the Lions with 19 points and Bearden had nine.
Now 2-1 on the season, Jessieville plays Mountain Pine in the final game of the Lakeside Classic at 6:15 p.m. tonight.
“It can go two ways; the way we hope it goes is that we come back hungry tomorrow and ready to go,” White said. “We’re going to come in and practice for about an hour; hopefully we’ll shake some of this off and be ready to go.”