On Tuesday night after their tilt with Marion, head coach Andrew Evertts believed that his team had quit playing after the Giants built a big lead in the second quarter.
Friday’s game against the Frankton Eagles played out in an eerily similar fashion.
After another solid first quarter by the Indians, a 15-5 surge by the Eagles in the second quarter turned out to be the turning point of the contest, as Mississinewa never threatened again in a 71-56 loss.
“They just went on a run, because they are a good team” Evertts said after a second-straight disappointing defeat. “I think the problem with our group right now is when things get tough, when teams go on runs, we quit. We quit, we really do. It’s disappointing to see that two games in a row. Anyone can compete for a quarter. We keep doing that, but we are not mentally tough enough yet, and we need to figure it out soon.”
The opening eight minutes of the game were a back-and-forth affair, as neither team led by more than four points in the quarter. Mississinewa held a brief 11-8 advantage midway through the period, their only lead of the game, but the Eagles responded with four straight points to take a 15-11 lead.
Misssissnewa’s Landen Swanner hit his second three of the first quarter to cut the lead to one, but Frankton’s Landon Weins, who went on to have a huge game, scored a field goal to increase the Eagles’ lead back to three.
For the second straight game, the Indians trailed by just two points heading into the second quarter.
And for the second straight game, the door came off the hinges for the Indians.
Mississinewa’s Anthony Horton tied the game at 17 with two free throws, but Frankton’s Rylan Detling scored five straight points to give the Eagles a five-point advantage.
The scoring onslaught continued as the quarter progressed. Travis McGuire hit a field goal, JJ Hartzell scored and made two free throws, and Weins converted a three-point play and another free throw to help the Eagles build a 32-20 lead.
Mississinewa’s Jalen Martin helped stopped the bleeding momentarily with a triple in the final minute of the first half, but the damage had already been done, as the Indians trailed by nine points heading into the third quarter.
The Eagles used another run early in the third quarter, this time an 11-2 burst, to increase their lead to 20, as the trio of Weins, Detling, and junior Kayden Key kept hitting shots from all over the floor.
Frankton’s lead didn’t dip below double digits the rest of the contest, as Weins and Key made shot after shot down the stretch to secure the Eagles’ victory.
With the win, Frankton improved to 17-3 overall and 6-0 in the CIC. The Indians fell to 11-7 and 4-2 in the conference.
Weins and Key both finished in double figures for the Eagles, as Weins finished with a game-high 28 points, while Key finished with 22 points, which included four makes from beyond the arc.
Mississinewa’s Thabit Gault had a monster game, finishing with 17 points and 16 rebounds in the game, while Swanner finished with 10 points. Martin ended the game with nine points, all coming off the three-ball.
Much like Marion, the Eagles thrive in a faster tempo, unlike the Indians, who play their best basketball at a slower pace.
For the second game, the Indians were bothered on both sides of the ball by Frankton up-tempo gameplay.
“Even when we tried to play in the half-court, their on-ball pressure is so good that I just felt like we wanted to go too quick,” Evertts said. “We saw a guy in our face so we thought we have to go, we have to get rid of the ball, and we have to drive, but we are at our best when we play solid half-court defense and methodically execute on offense.”
Before this week, the Indians were playing some of their best basketball of the season.
Now, Evertts isn’t really sure what is going on with his team, but he does know that they don’t have much time to correct their issues.
“We talked a lot about that in the locker room, and I don’t know what it is about this group, but again, we are running out of time,” Evertts said. “We have to get it figured out. After the Delta game, we all felt great and the kids were super confident. We played two really good teams in a row and had two really good wins. Now, we just feel like we are back to square one now. We’ve got four games and about two weeks of practice to get it figured out.
“I’m still confident, [and] I know we have great athletes, but we’ve got to put it together right now.”
