December 29, 2000

Tigers just don't have enough for a win

By John Montgomery
Sports Writer

ATTICA -- Seneca East coach Doug Mason had what he wanted for a little while -- a good game from his Tigers.

But then Margaretta took advantage of Seneca East's lackluster defense to go on a 12-2 run over the final 3:34 of the first quarter, gain a big lead and roll away to a 76-49 win Wednesday.

It's a sight he's become all too familiar with this year while the Tigers have started out 0-7.

"We're not competing very well against them (opponents). I think we should be able to be competitive, that was the biggest thing I was hoping for this year," he said. "Now we're getting beat by 20 and 30 points every game and we're not even making it a contest."

It was a contest in the first quarter, though.

Margaretta (4-3) led 11-2 before the Tigers rallied back to trail just 11-9 after Dustin Alt (7 points) hit two foul shots and then scored down low with 3:34 left in the period.

But then the Polar Bears took over.

Kevin VanNess and Rob Lewis (7 points) both hit two free throws for Margaretta before the Tigers got a foul shot from Preston Hicks.

VanNess, who led everyone with 20 points and seven rebounds, then dropped in three baskets and Lewis connected on two more free throws while Seneca East could muster only a foul shot from Alt.

The Polar Bears extended that 23-11 at the start of the second quarter to 45-28 by halftime and never led by less than 15 points after that.

A lot of that had to do with the Tigers shooting poorly from the field, hitting on just 18 of their 60 field goal attempts.

But the main reason for the big point spread, according to Mason, was Seneca East's defense.

"We're not doing a good job defensively, moving our feet," he said. "It almost didn't matter what we did defensively. You can play zone or you can play man but if you're going to just let people drive in there and go around you and let them get layups, you're going to have a lot of nights like we did here.

"Defense is something that doesn't take talent, it takes a lot of hard work and a little bit of pride," he said. "That's what's disappointing right now, how poorly we're playing because we're just giving up way too many easy baskets. We need to make them work harder to score."