Mahomet-Seymour Boys’ Basketball places sixth at Lincoln Tournament

By FRED KRONER
fred@mahometnews.com

The Mahomet-Seymour boys’ basketball team opened the season by winning once in the four-game Lincoln Tournament.

Two of the Bulldogs’ losses were by nine points, or less. M-S placed sixth in the event.

“We’ve not shot the ball very well to start the season,” M-S head coach Ryan Bosch said. “As a result, it’s been a grind to begin.

“There are many positives that are sustainable while we try to get some shots to fall. Our rebounding has been really good and we’ve continued to attack the basket and earn trips to the line at a great rate.

“We’ve got to do a better job converting some of our drives. We’ve missed too many layups and we’ve got to shoot the ball better from the outside.”

In Monday’s opener, played at Centennial, the Bulldogs dropped a 69-55 decision to the Chargers despite creating an 18-8 lead after one period.

Grant Coleman (18 points) and Braden Finch (11 points) were the top M-S scorers.

M-S made 38.6 percent of its shots from the field (17 of 44).

Coleman hit 9 of 9 free-throw attempts and also notched three assists and three steals.

Cole Lener contributed seven rebounds, four points, four assists and three steals.

As a team, the Bulldogs committed only five turnovers.

Zach Carr and Kobe Essien added seven points apiece.

“We weren’t very good executing down the stretch,” Bosch said. “It’s good to finally have some film that we can use to clean up our mistakes and learn from.

“The team has a lot of potential, but has to stay committed to reaching it.”

M-S posted its lone win of the week on Tuesday at Lincoln against Bartonville Limestone, 61-50, in a game it trailed 32-30 at halftime.

Coleman tallied 17 points, Essien chipped in with 13, Finch had 12 and Lener was the fourth double-figure scorer, ending with 10 points.

The Bulldogs made 31.6 percent of their field goal attempts (18 of 57), but pulled away thanks to a 22-10 fourth-quarter surge.

Coleman cleared eight rebounds, Essien had five boards and Lener had four rebounds to go with three steals.

On Friday, Danville handed M-S a 60-52 setback. The Bulldogs were down 40-37 after three quarters.

Coleman scored 13 points and posted the team’s first double-double of the year, grabbing 12 rebounds. Lener made 12 points and also ended with a double-double. He cleared 10 boards.

Carr and Essien each handled seven rebounds. Finch scored six points.

The Bulldogs shot 30.5 percent overall from the floor (18 of 59) and were just 4 of 20 from beyond the three-point arc.

“We played well for our longest stretches of the year throughout the game,” Bosch said. “We had it down to a one-point game for a couple of minutes at the start of the fourth quarter and went cold for a few possessions in a row and couldn’t score. 

“Cole Lener, in particular, played excellent defense guarding Danville’s Division-1 recruit all night (Tevin Smith) and held him to 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting, which really kept us in the game.”

In Saturday’s fifth-place game, Belleville Althoff topped M-S, 47-38.

The Bulldogs were without Coleman, who suffered an ankle injury a day earlier.

Carr led the offense with 12 points, Eli Warren scored nine points and Essien added eight points.

The Bulldogs had their lowest accuracy rate of the season, connecting on 12 of 45 shots (26.7 percent).

Essien grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.

“We’re still trying to find a consistent rotation while we work some guys back from injury,” Bosch said. “Zach Carr (junior) has done a really nice job to start the year for us.

“Cole Lener (senior) has often been tasked with guarding the other team’s best player and set a great tone. Eli Warren (junior) has continued to develop an ability to get inside the paint. Grant Coleman (senior) has done a nice job of scoring without forcing the issue despite receiving a ton of attention from the defense.”

The Bulldogs play their home opener and their Apollo Conference opener on Friday against Charleston.

“We always go to Lincoln for solid competition and to find out what we need to work on,” Bosch added. “It’s a great tournament to start the year for exposing flaws to address.

“We’re excited to have some film to break down and some gym time to do just that and get ourselves ready heading into conference play.”