Turnovers cost Jessieville at home against rival FL

JESSIEVILLE — Jessieville could not overcome turnovers as the Lions fell, 57-41, to the visiting Fountain Lake Cobras Tuesday night at the Jessieville Sports Arena.

The Lions (6-4) committed 18 turnovers in the game compared to just 12 by Fountain Lake (9-1).

“Start to finish — turnovers. That’s the name of the game,” said Jessieville head coach Jared White. “If we don’t get that fixed, we won’t beat a good team. It’s not just one guy. It’s everybody taking a turn.

“We’ve got to look at why we’re turning it over and learn from it. So far, we seem to be turning it over, the same thing over and over. I’m a little frustrated with that, and I know they’re frustrated with it. We’ll have to go back and get better at it.”

The two teams played close in the first half, Fountain Lake holding a 24-20 lead over the Lions, but the Cobras outscored the Lions, 14-5, in the third frame to put the game away.

“(Braxton) Shifflett picks up his fourth foul,” White explained. “He hasn’t gotten to play the whole game, and he picks up his fourth foul two minutes into the third quarter.

“That kind of changes what we’re doing offensively. We’ve got some young guys in there that are a little bit timid, so it’s a learning experience for everybody.” Tyler Holloway was the only Lion to sink baskets in the quarter, putting up four of the team’s five points, the remaining point coming from Chase Pedersen’s free throw. Four Cobras managed to get on the board in the period, Ahman Johnson leading the team with five points.

“At halftime, we went in, and we felt pretty good,” Fountain Lake head coach Jake Dettmering said. “It’s all about how we played. We missed some easy ones.

“So, I think we finally settled in late first or sometime during the second, and then we came out and played really solid the second half. We amped up the pressure for sure in the second half.”

Fountain Lake scored 19 points in the final eight minutes while allowing 16 to secure the win.

“That’s a tough team,” White said. “Credit to Fountain Lake. They came in here and outplayed us. That’s all there is to it. There’s no excuses. They came in here and outplayed us on our home court, and that’s not OK.”

Johnson led the Cobras with 18 points on the night with three rebounds, three steals and a block.

“Ahman caused some havoc up at the top and got a lot of tipped passes,” Dettmering said. “That led to a lot of run

out layups and then that nice dunk he had.

“That was kind of the swinging point, Ahman’s ability to get out there, not only Ahman, but our other little guards, Riley Hood and Rodrigo Vasquez. They both are good defenders and pressure out and try to be aggressive.”

Joe Murphy finished with 14 points with a team-leading eight assists and five rebounds. Colton McMullin added 11 points with four rebounds.

Tyler Holloway led the Lions with 10 points with five rebounds and an assist, Shifflett added nine points with one rebound and one assist. Pedersen had eight points with a team-leading six rebounds and five assists.

Fountain Lake will travel to Booneville

(7-1) Friday, and Jessieville will be at Lamar

(2-5).