Written by Deb Egenberger Thursday, 13 January 2011 15:01
Turnovers hamper boys in 73-58 loss to Sutherland.
SUTHERLAND—When Sutherland’s shooters started hitting three-pointers like true sailors drop anchor, Gothenburg’s boys found themselves in a sinking ship.
The Sailors hit seven three-point shots—three in a row in the third quarter—to gain an insurmountable advantage over the Swedes and win Friday night 73-58.
“They shot lights out,” said Gothenburg coach Roger Koehler. “When they’re hitting threes at that rate, it makes it a little tough to defend.”At the same time, the Swedes found themselves struggling to hang onto the ball.
“We are our own worst enemy,” Koehler said. “We’ve just got to do a better job of taking care of the ball.”
Throughout the first half, the Sailors and the Swedes battled point for point.
Sutherland cruised to a 9-4 lead in the first period before Gothenburg came back to tie at 11-11.
Despite three offensive fouls, all called as moving screens from Gothenburg’s flex offense, the Swedes trailed by just two points at the end of the first quarter 13-11.
A three-pointer by Brett Dockweiler and a pair of back-to-back long bombs by Jack Dudley gave the Swedes a 23-17 lead with 4:49 to go in the half.
After Sutherland called a timeout to adjust, Gothenburg didn’t get another trey until late in the third.
Still, with time running out before halftime, the score was knotted 31-31 before Sailor Landon Holmes sank a long-range three-pointer to give Sutherland a 34-31 advantage.
“We were right there,” Koehler said.
But the Sailors came out on fire in the third quarter hitting the first five shots they put up.
“They hit a three, we came down and made a turnover,” Koehler said. “They hit a two and we made a turnover. They hit another three and we made another turnover. We were down three to start the second half and all of a sudden we were trailing by 13. It’s pretty tough to battle back from that kind of a hole.”
At the same time, Sutherland (6-3) gained confidence and momentum.
Up 48-40, Tyler Jedlicki hit a deep two-point field goal as the buzzer sounded at the end of the third period to give Sutherland a
Find the complete story and individual statistics in our print edition. Receive the entire issue of the Gothenburg Times on-line in PDF format each Wednesday for only $25 per year. Call 308-537-3636 to subscribe.