Macomb struggles from free throw line in 16-point loss

PHOTO / ALEX STAAB

Bushnell, Ill. - It was a 7-0 run off the opening tip for the visiting Macomb Bombers (1-7), but that quickly turned into the parallel opposite, as the Bushnell-Prairie Lady Spartans (7-1) took control and never looked back on their way to a wild 73-57 win over the Bombers.

The early run the Bombers made, all the while forcing early turnovers by the host Lady Spartans, even made Bushnell-Prairie City head coach Tony Ackers call a timeout just about 90 seconds into the game.

That timeout ended up being well-called, as that run was very quickly erased, and became a 24-4 run the rest of the quarter. The Lady Spartans' run was largely paced by the efforts of Jevani Sickels at the free throw line, where she went 8-11 in the opening quarter alone. That's something that Macomb Head Coach Zach Keene knew exactly how it was happening.

"The big thing was underneath the basket. She was getting rebounds, or she was getting behind us on the defense. We were just being lazy, not getting back."

Coach Keene feels it was the same thing his squad had been doing earlier that was now causing problems for them.

"They had some good pressure. I think our kids, when we have one turnover, it turns into two, which turns into three, which turns into four."

The run equals out to the Lady Spartans holding a 24-11 lead over the Bombers after a quarter.

Pace of play would get a little better for Macomb in the second quarter, as junior Avery Rexroat began to feel it from three, hitting three of her game-high four threes in the second.

Coach Keene says that Rexroat's shooting abilities have to do with her confidence in shooting the ball.

"We talked to her before the game. She's been playing really well in JV games, and knocking down quite a few shots. She gets into a varsity game, and she's asking 'what am I doing'. I say, just shoot it. She came out, wasn't worried about making or missing. She really knocked down some shots."

Despite Rexroat's efforts at the charity stripe, and senior Grace Stufflebeam adding a trey, the Spartans kept up the scoring with yet another 20-point quarter. The game set at a 16-point spread with 16 minutes in the books, 44-28, favoring the home team.

If shutting down Jevani Sickels was discussed at halftime, it worked. Sickels would only end up scoring one more free throw the rest of the game, and finish with a game-high 19 points.

Only problem for the Bombers, there was plenty of scoring to be had elsewhere.

In fact, the Lady Spartans took a page out of Macomb's book per say, hitting three 3-pointers in the quarter, to go with five 2-pointers and three free throws, all adding up to yet another 20+ point quarter.

However, Macomb's free throw shooting did improve a bit in the third quarter, but Coach Keene believes, as it's been the case multiple times according to him, were already too far behind.

"That's been the story all season long for us. We dig ourselves a hole, and then all of a sudden we go on a run."

Shelby Daniels wound up being the best on the free ones for Macomb, going 3-6 in the third, and 5-10 for the game, a team high.

Junior Makenna Lefebvre and Rexroat both hit threes in the third, but with all of eight minutes to go, the Bombers' deficit was at 26 points, 66-40.

Bushnell-Prairie City, beginning to empty the bench, only managed seven fourth quarter points, but it was plenty. Macomb countered with what ended up tied for its best scoring quarter of the night, with seven different Bombers finding the scoring column.

In the end, 50 fouls were called. 70 free throws were attempted. 130 points were scored. This one would be advantage Spartans by a final score of 73-57.

Coach Keene says that the free throw shooting could not have been more obvious, in terms of how it effected the game, and agrees that Bushnell-Prairie City capitalized on it more.

"They absolutely did. Credit to them for making free throws, especially in the first half. I feel like any time us and Bushnell get together it just becomes a free throw shooting contest."

Keene would continue, saying that the free ones pretty much set who won and who lost.

"Besides the crazy turnovers, there's the ball game right there."

Now, a short turnaround for the Bombers, with only Tuesday and Wednesday off from games before a Thursday home tilt. Keene thinks there's not much time between games to compensate for what he thinks needs to improve based off of Monday's game.

"We only got two practices with four hours. There's so many things. We definitely have to start taking care of the ball a lot better."

Macomb will host Rushville-Industry on Thursday at 6:00pm (JV) and 7:30pm (Varsity) at Washington Street Gym.

-----------------------------------------------STATISTICS BELOW----------------------------------------------

Macomb Scoring: Avery Rexroat (15), Reagan Emerick (9), Grace Stufflebeam (6), Makenna Lefebvre (6), Sarah Stufflebeam (5), Shelby Daniels (5), Halle Evans (3), Ainsley Holthaus (3), Kaitlyn Robinson (2), Rachel Langworthy (2), Allison Stortzum (1)

Macomb Team Stats: 9 2's, 9 3's, 12-37 FTs, 23 fouls, 57 points

Macomb Leaders: 
2's | Reagan Emerick (3)
3's | Avery Rexroat (4)
FTs | Shelby Daniels (5-10)

Bushnell-Prairie City Scoring: Jevani Sickels (19), Alyssa Zarello (11), Courtney Norris (10), Abbey Donaldson (10), Ashanti Strange (7), Melissa Allen (5), Miah Zarello (5), Kierstyn Pemble (2), Mazie Kramer (2), Emma Coursey (2)

Bushnell-Prairie City Team Stats: 19 2's, 4 3's, 23-33 FTs, 27 fouls, 73 points

Bushnell-Prairie City Leaders:
2's | Alyssa Zarello, Jevani Sickels (4 each)
3's | Abbey Donaldson (3)
FTs | Jevani Sickels (11-18)