LELAND — The home standing Leland Cubs (1-9) couldn’t sustain their offensive efficiency and competitive fire for four quarters as they fell to the Gentry High School Rams 68-58 Saturday night. The Cubs kept the game close and took a couple of second half leads only to see Gentry regain control.
At the 5:09 mark of the fourth quarter Leland guard Jatonius Pratt drove down the middle of the Gentry defense and kicked a pass to the corner where teammate Damarcus Green made a wide open three pointer cutting the Rams lead to 59-54. The Cubs wouldn’t get any closer in the final quarter as Gentry (10-2) ended the game on a 9-4 run to seal the deal.
“We just have to get more consistent,” said Cubs head coach Adiaih “AC” Curry. “There are certain teams that we play well against and there are some that we don’t. We played hard tonight.”
The Cubs’ Achilles heels was turnovers, injury and fatigue. When the Cubs took a brief two-point lead as they opened the second half by scoring eight unanswered points, they committed four turnovers on the next six possessions.
It looked as if the Cubs guards would shoot the home team to victory in the early going. Leland started the game making four of its first five shots with four different players getting into the scoring column. But Gentry’s interior play and timely baskets from Clint Ferguson and Makelvi Hutchinson proved to be too much for the Cubs to overcome.
