Mapleton boys basketball searching for consistency after loss to Monroeville
NANKIN — Mapleton opened the season with a five-point loss at Monroeville.
It was a much different outcome when the two teams met again Friday at Mapleton High School.
The Eagles led by two points early in the second quarter before outscoring the Mounties 18-6 over the next seven minutes to take a commanding 14-point halftime lead.
Mapleton was unable to get any closer than 10 points the rest of the game as Monroeville cruised to a 67-51 win in Firelands Conference boys basketball action.
Consistency has been an issue for the Mounties (7-7, 3-6). They lost by a point to undefeated Western Reserve on Jan. 13, then lost by nearly 20 to South Central (12-2) two days later.
“We talk about consistency a lot,” Mapleton coach Nicholas Hickey said. “If we can be consistent in all facets of the game every night, we can be really, really good. But we’re not. We have games like we did against South Central and then tonight against a good Monroeville team.”
There’s no shame in losing to Western Reserve and South Central, who have been the FC’s top two teams for several years. But finding a way to beat quality teams like them is the next step in Mapleton’s rebuild.
The Mounties have made significant progress since Hickey took over the program entering the 2019-20 season. They won seven total games, including a 0-28 mark in the FC, over his first two seasons.
Mapleton needed just 10 games to reach seven wins this season, and three of those seven wins came in FC play.
“It’s going to take a strong commitment from every boy [to start beating the top teams in the FC],” Hickey said. “Sometimes we have a couple every night who are locked in and ready to go, and it can be a different group the next night instead of all of us.”
The Mounties didn’t have many answers for Monroeville’s Isaac Roeder and Jimmy Clingman, who combined to score 50 of their team’s 67 points. Clingman scored 15 of his 25 points in the first half, while Roeder scored 14 of his 25 in the second half.
The Eagles (11-2, 8-2) hit eight 3-pointers for the game, including five in the third quarter. Those long balls helped them outscore Mapleton 27-15 in the quarter and take a 61-35 lead into the fourth.
“We talked in the locker room [after the game] that we got outshot,” Hickey said. “That’s OK. That’s going to happen. That’s basketball. A team is going to shoot better than another team. But to be flat and not have the energy that you need to win a basketball game, we don’t take that lightly.”
Jed Brannon led the Mounties with 16 points, and Cam Sloter chipped in 12.
“We didn’t get the ball inside to Jed enough,” Hickey said. “Jed was having a pretty nice game, and as a team we didn’t recognize that and get him the ball in spots where he can take advantage of.”
Reach Chris at csnow@times-gazette.com
On Twitter: CSnow_TG
This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Mapleton is seeking consistency after loss to Monroeville
