Randolph boys fall to Plainview, Ponca
Alan Dale
Randolph Times
RANDOLPH — The Randolph Cardinals dropped a 42-31 setback to Plainview last week.
Lewis and Clark Conference Lewis bracket tournament action began Monday.
Randolph (1-14) opened against Ponca, falling 48-33 in that contest.
Last week’s loss came against Plainview, 42-31, which Randolph head coach Jim Hixson said should have been a lot closer than it turned out.
Jacob Calder scored 13 points and Tom Korth added seven points in the defeat.
“We came out very sluggish and I will take the blame for the team not coming out with the energy necessary to start the game,” Hixson said. “After digging ourselves a hole we made a run in the fourth quarter but ran out of time.
“I loved the energy in the fourth quarter however we needed to bring that all game.”
Randolph shot 31 percent from the field and Hixson said the team needs to step up its aggression on getting more opportunities off of offensive rebounding.
“One of the life lessons I like to teach through basketball is, how are you going to react to adversity in life,” Hixson said. “Are you going to hang your head and feel sorry for yourself or are you going to pull yourself up by your bootstraps and fight through that adversity. We did both in this game.
“During the first three quarters we felt sorry for ourselves. In the fourth quarter we found a spark and fought through the adversity to make a game of it. We need to take that enthusiasm and energy into each and every one of our remaining games.”
Hixson hopes the Cardinals can show some of that same grit in the tournament.
He has also enjoyed seeing the improvement of the sophomore Jake Harder this season as a 6-foot-1 post in his first varsity season.
“We have been working on his footwork as well as catching the ball,” Hixson said. “He is improving every day. Jake plays great post defense for us. He has been a huge part in helping shut down opposing inside players.
“Jake’s best quality is that he is very coachable. He has a great attitude and genuinely tries to do the things that the coaching staff asks of him. I look for big things from him in the next couple of years.”
Harder said the Cardinals “were not all there” against Plainview.
“We weren’t hungover (from their first win the previous week), but we were just not there because we were jacking around in practice and not taking things seriously,” Harder said. “We thought it would be an easy win and it wasn’t. We thought too much before the game.
“We were worse than we should have been. We weren’t hustling and getting back, and they were getting easy layups. It was simple stuff we should do.”
Harder said the Cardinals are not cocky because “we’ve only won one game,” but they should go into the games with confidence and then execute on that attitude.
“We have to hustle and do your job to win the game,” Harder said. “We should be worried about playing basketball (and not who they are playing).”
Randolph 9 6 4 12 — 31
Plainview 13 8 15 6 — 42
SCORING Randolph – Jacob Calder, 13; Tom Korth, 7; Brayden Shearer, 6; Isaiah Salmon, 3; Collyn Beal, 2.
REBOUNDS Randolph – Jacob Calder, 6; Tom Korth, 6; Brayden Shearer, 5; Collyn Beal, 4; Isaiah Salmon, 3; Shaw Backer, 2; Jake Harder, 2.
ASSISTS Randolph – Collyn Beal, 1.
STEALS Randolph – Jacob Calder, 4; Brayden Shearer, 2; Collyn Beal, 1; Tom Korth, 1; Isaiah Salmon, 1.
BLOCKS Randolph – Collyn Beal, 1; Tom Korth, 1; Brayden Shearer, 1.
Randolph vs Ponca Monday
Randolph 9 7 13 4 — 33
Ponca 9 10 14 15 — 48
