Purple Riders Zone Trouble for Lancers

by Kirk Whitaker
Arthur/Sullivan Reporter

Early on it looked as if AL-AH would give then no. 8 ranked in Class 1A and LOVC foe Arcola a run for their money. The Lancers maintained their pace, and Arcola star junior Taylor Edwards started the game a little cold. Arthur-Lovington held an 11-7 lead after a quarter of play with Karly Goodman scoring five and Emily Seegmiller four, and Brianna Morgan adding two free throws for Lancer scoring.

“Those girls have been working on getting to the basket in practice,” Lancers head coach Craig Moffett commented. “It shows in games, and we are pretty good when we can get to the basket. Our first quarter defense was great, but it’s my fault for not getting the girls conditioned enough to show that they can play with that energy for four quarters.”

After the first, the Lady Riders implemented a 1-3-1 zone and effectively stymied the Lancer attack, except for an early 5-0 run in the second to give AL a 16-7 lead from a Seegmiller layup and a Sherelle Coller trey.

Arcola tied the game at 18 with 1:48 to go in the first half, and play would go back and forth until the half, where Arcola held a 23-22 lead after Coller’s final 3-pointer of the game.

Both teams played at a relatively slow pace in the third, but in the end it was still Arcola’s zone and the Lancers’ lack of aggressive play and movement on offense that held the Lancers to solely seven points in the third—five from Goodman and Brook Tabb’s only basket of the game. Arcola took a 33-28 advantage into the fourth.

Then everything fell apart for the Lancers.

When a good shot came for the Lancers, it didn’t go in, but good shots were few and far in between due to the little offensive movement.

“We tried to make adjustments against the zone,” Moffett continued. “We haven’t run against a zone in practice much. I was surprised to see it—that’s good coaching by them—we stood, and when you stand in basketball it won’t be good, it doesn’t matter who you are.”

The only two Lancer baskets in the fourth came from Goodman and Coller, and Arcola outscored the Lancers 14-4 in the final stanza, taking the game and a share of the LOVC regular season championship 47-32.

“I wish I really knew how it got so out of hand for us late,” said Moffett. “We didn’t try missing shots, but the ones we took weren’t that great. I think they showed their extra wind and played fundamentally sound.”

The Lancers, the no. 2 two seed in their own regional behind Sullivan, faced Tuscola Tuesday and…See page…for that story.

Stats:

K. Goodman: 4-3-11 points, 4 rebounds; E. Seegmiller: 4-1-9 points, 3-0-8 points, 3 rebounds; B. Morgan: 0-2-2 points; B. Tabb: 1-0-2 points