By Mark Slette
Staff Writer
Still early in the season, the Coppell Cowboys were to ironing out some kinks on the court. The Cowboys tried to stay undefeated as they took on the Frisco Centennial Titans but with several mistakes they lost with a score of 46-42.
Senior point guard Landon Goesling led the team with 18 points. Senior forward Josh Feitl also added 10 points made both of two free throws and his two 3-point bombs he threw from behind the arc.
As a whole, the team began on the wrong foot, They started off stagnant and completely out of rhythm.
“[We] started off slow,” head coach Kit Pehl said. “The team had some excellent looks and opportunities but the team missed them. Its really bad when we get some good looks but fail to score them.”
At the end of first quarter, the score was 10-3 Frisco. As Feitl nailed the only points for the team, Coppell had nine of their 29 total turnovers in the period, along with several other miscues and missed scoring opportunities. Coppell dug itself into a deep hole and couldn’t climb out.
“You gotta take care of the basketball and we didn’t,” Pehl said.“We were really loose with it.”
Granted, Coppell did have to play against a tough 1-3-1 Frisco Centennial defense. The Titans’ scheme is a zone defense that no one ever plays. It’s difficult to scout against and is hardly ever seen in high school level of play. It isn’t a typical 2-3 zone.
“Frisco was in a zone [we] didn’t see before,” Goesling said. “[We] never went up against a zone like that.”
Coppell was able penetrate in the second quarter though, as the team went on an 11-3 run. They took a 14-13 lead into halftime.
Pehl said “[He] turned up the defense and [The team] was able to generate some offense.”
Starting the second half with a couple of fouls by both Frisco and Coppell, both teams were in the bonus shooting free throws, immediately into the 3rd Quarter. The Titans shot 18-of-30 free throws in the entire game, while the Cowboys shot 9 of 13.
Pehl said, “We fouled way to much. [Frisco] spent a lot of their time on the free throw line.”
The Cowboys had several chances to stay in the game. Goesling hit a big three-pointer to try and get the team back into the game. But, because of a plethora of hasty errors, careless fouls kept the Titans shooting free throws and allowed them to run away with the win.
“The turnovers killed us,” senior reserve guard and captain Clay Kemp said. “We made careless mistakes all around.”
