Mustangs end four-game losing streak

Posted

NIXON — The Nixon-Smiley Mustangs needed a win to break out of their four-game District 27-3A losing streak. They got just that as they took down their rivals, the Stockdale Brahmas, at home, 55-48.

“I thought we did a good job,” Nixon-Smiley head coach Carlton McKinney said. “Dealing with 16, 17, 18-year-old kids and their psyche and although we were rolling fairly well when we were 4-0, to lose four and even in that four-game losing streak a couple of those games were down to the wire, it affects them. Even though we played well against Stockdale before and had some success against them, it was going to be a rivalry game and we were going to have to battle through some difficult times to get ourselves back.”

Both teams traded baskets, ending the first quarter on a 12-12 tie. But it wasn’t until early in the third when the Mustangs were able to get some separation.

Down 30-28 with 6:08 to go, Nixon-Smiley ran off a 12-0 run to end the quarter, with Jordan Lopez scoring the first five points and Treon Fatheree scoring the next seven.

“That was huge for [Fatheree],” McKinney said of the run. “He’s been struggling a little bit. He wears his emotions on his sleeves so when his shots aren’t falling he doesn’t think he’s productive and helping the team. Our whole deal was making sure that we run some stuff for him to get him going. He’s a kid where when he’s playing well, we have the tendency to play well behind him. During that stretch, like I said, normally like the last couple of games, that’s where we faltered. We didn’t muster enough fight and battle to make those plays. We were able to do that tonight and hopefully it’ll prepare us moving forward.”

Fatheree led the team in scoring with 20 points. Lopez finished with 14 as did Jordan Van Auken.

On the defensive end, the Mustangs tried to stop Stockdale’s Joel Marquez from becoming a threat with his outside shooting.

“When we played them there, he wasn’t able to shoot as well,” McKinney explained, “but we were able to get up in him and cost him some problems. Tonight we were trying to do that but we were still trying to find our way. I thought we lost some confidence in that four-game losing streak so what we were trying to do was not to foul. We had a couple of games during the streak we put them on the foul lien way too much. Trying to defend without fouling kind of takes away some of the aggressiveness away and I think we let him get some easy ones early. Once he got it going he’s a quality player and he was able to make some shots.”

McKinney gave Colby Newman and Jordan Van Auken the task of defending Marquez and though he made some shots earlier in the game, he was limited in the second half.

“Credit goes to them for sticking with him and sticking to the game plan and trying to do the best they could.”

With 3:57 left in the game and the Mustangs up 47-40, Nixon-Smiley ran a play, making crisp passes and moving the ball without getting to the basket until about 90 seconds ran off the clock. Finally, Lopez found Rodrigo Acevedo for an easy lay in to give the Mustangs a nine-point lead with 2:23 left in the game.

“I thought at that point is where in the past we’ve tried to rush something and trying to get the kids to understand that we got enough points to win, they’re the team that needs to make the play,” McKinney explained. “So we called a timeout just to settle everybody down and say ‘OK this is what we want to do, make sure everyone knows what their responsibilities are’ and it worked to our advantage tonight.”

With the win over Stockdale, the Mustangs now get back above .500 with a 5-4 record. But even with the win, he believes his team need sto continue to play with a sense of urgency to have continued success.

“If we’re not playing our best and we’re not playing ‘desperate’ or with a sense of urgency where every possession matters then we kind of give some of that power away,” he warned. “What we don’t want to do is give our power away. We want to control our own destiny. If we can continue to do that and battle, I think we’ll be fine. But that’s got to be key for us. Letting those kids understand, look, we’re going to do what we do, give you rest, we’re going to get ourselves better but the biggest thing is when we step up on that floor we’re going to battle for every possession. If we can do that I think we’ll be fine.”

Nixon-Smiley takes on Yoakum on the road with tipoff set at 8 p.m.

Comments