BURLINGAME — Southern Coffey County boys’ basketball coach Zach Douglas didn’t have much to say about specific players after the Titans lost 64-43 to Burlingame on Tuesday night, but his message was clear.
“I not worried about individual stuff,” Douglas said. “We didn’t play well enough as a team and it really hurt us.”
Burlingame came into the contest as the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association’s No. 10-ranked team in Class 1-Division 1 and flexed their muscle early against Southern Coffey County.
“They are the best team we have played so far,” Douglas said.
The Bearcats raced out to a 8-2 lead early in the first quarter.
Titan freshman guard Zeke Lyons scored three quick points to cut the margin to 8-5, but the Bearcats went on a 18-5 run to end the first quarter and begin the second quarter.
Lyons scored on a three-point play to spark an 8-2 run to trim the margin back down to 28-18 late in the second quarter, but Burlingame had an answer and ended the half on a 6-0 run to take a 34-18 lead.
“We got off to a slow start,” Douglas said. “We tried to play catch-up the entire game and that just doesn’t bode well for us.”
The Titans opened the second half on fire though and after the two teams exchanged baskets to begin the third quarter, Southern Coffey County scored on five-consecutive possessions and cut the lead to single digits — at 40-31 — for the first time since the first quarter.
Lyons had seven points during the 13-4 run.
Burlingame was able to regain control of the game early in the fourth quarter and sealed the game with a 21-12 final period.
“We’ve got to learn to play together better,” Douglas said of his team’s defense. “We need to learn our rotations better so we can know where we need to be.”
Lyons led the team with 18 points while sophomore Dawson Leimkuhler added 10 points.
2016 All-State honoree Chonnor Ludolph was held in check with only nine points and outside of those three, the rest of the team combined for just six points and the Titans got no points from their bench.
The loss drops the Titans to 5-2 overall and 2-1 in the Lyon County League.
“We have a lot to get better at over Christmas break,” Douglas said. “Tonight did a good job of showing up what those things are.”
The schedule does Southern Coffey County no favors coming out of the break with the Titans hosting Class 1-Division 1 No. 2 team Olpe in their first game back and them going to Hartford to play Class 1-Division 2’s No. 3 team later that same week.
For the Titans to stay competitive in the very tough Lyon County League — four of the league’s eight team are state ranked — they need to get back to their fast-paced attack.
“We need to be able to run in transition, move on offense and play man defense,” Douglas said.
UP NEXT
The Titans return from break on Jan. 6 in Olpe.
