Indian River High School’s varsity boys’ basketball team began the season hot, winning seven of eight but has since lost its last three games to Northern Henlopen Conference teams — including a 70-51 loss to Polytech on Jan. 15.
Coastal Point • JESSE PRYOR
DeShawn Godwin prepares for a jumpshot just outside the key in a recent game.
Indian River also dropped games to Smyrna and Milford — both games being described by an Indians assistant coach as “winnable,” because they failed to match their opponents’ level of effort.
“Their intensity killed us,” said Indians head coach Phil Mead. “We can’t expect to go in and only play one half and expect to win.”
Polytech (5-7, 4-7) never trailed the Indians and led by 19 points heading into halftime and throughout the second half — in part because they played so well as a team. Panthers head coach John Pierce noted that the gelling process has taken time but finally took form for his team, and he credited it for their three-game win streak.
“Guys are finally learning what we want from them,” Pierce said. “They’ve realized that it isn’t all about the individuals, and because of that we’re playing better as a team.”
Anthony Myles (15 points), Quentin Thomas (15) and Kenneth Roberts (13) were responsible for most of the Panthers’ offense, but their effort was supplemented by an impressive performance by the rest of the team.
Nine Polytech players scored and 10 contributed statistically in the winning effort. They combined for 15 assists, a 44 percent field goal percentage and nailed 12 of 17 free-throws, including seven of nine in the fourth quarter.
“Polytech played a very good game. They were strong from the floor and strong from the free-throw line,” Mead said.
Indian River, on the other hand, floundered. Polytech’s full- and half-court pressure caused its fair share of Indian River’s 25 turnovers and, as a consequence, the Indians failed to get into any type of rhythm offensively.
Indians center Jeremy Purnell led all scorers with 22 points on 9-16 shooting, including four of five from the free-throw line. He was joined with a season-high 16 points by fellow senior Cory Myles, but that’s where it ended for the Indians.
They managed only six combined points from four of their main contributors: Sean Lewis, Tyree Oliver, Montre Andrews and Keion Sturgis.
Throughout the season, all four of those players have proven their mettle, and Mead was quick to note that the past three games were by no means the end — so there is no need for them to get too down on themselves, he said. There are plenty of games yet to play, and Mead said he is confident that they’ll bounce back and play the kind of basketball that catapulted them to the top of the Southern Division standings earlier in the season.
“We knew it was going to get tougher once we hit the North, but you look at each loss as a learning experience,” Mead said. “As a young team, it’s important to learn from the past but also to look to the next game.
“A loss isn’t the end of the world,” he concluded.
Now in the middle of a seven-game stretch against the Northern Conference, Indian River will host Cape Henlopen tonight at 7:15 p.m. From there, Indian River will travel to play Sussex Tech (Jan. 22) and Sussex Central (Jan. 25) on the road.