Scoring woes continue to hamper Plainsmen

Plainsmen Coach Shawn Cole knew his team doesn’t match up well against Chase County so he had to make a choice.

He could pack it in and stop their inside game, or try to shut down Chase County’s three-point shooting. He choose the former in the Plainsmen’s two games with Chase County in five days. 

While the Plainsmen had success shutting down their inside game and held one of their leader scorers to just one, Chase County absolutely lit it up from outside the arc. 

In Thursday’s regular season game at Grant, the Longhorns dropped 12 of 32 three-point attempts, handling the Plainsmen a 62-26 loss.

On Monday, the Perkins County traveled to Chase County for the first round of the SPVA tournament. 

While the Plainsmen put 41 points on the board, they couldn’t match another scorching three-point shooting performance by the Longhorns.

The Plainsmen’s defensive effort took away the Longhorns’ inside game for the most part Monday. But it was the Longhorns’ hot hand outside the three-point arc that the Plainsmen couldn’t match. 

Chase County hit a total of 17 treys on the night, including nine alone from Mason Nordhausen en route to a 73-41 win over the Plainsmen. 

Wauneta-Palisade

Sandwiched between the two games with Chase County, the Plainsmen meet Wauneta-Palisade there Friday night. 

The Plainsmen had trouble getting the ball in the hoop again at Wauneta, falling 41-35.

Cole said the Plainsmen have to start scoring to keep themselves in the game. 

Monday they put double digits on the board in the first quarter, something they couldn’t do in their first game against Chase County and their matchup with Wauneta-Palisade Friday. 

With the Plainsmen’s first-round loss in the SPVA tournament, They will play Friday, 5 p.m. CT at Mid-Plains Community College. The opponent will be determined by Tuesday’s other first-round games. 

A win there would advance them to the fifth place game Saturday, 1:30 p.m. CT. 

The regular season resumes Jan. 28 at Holyoke and Jan. 30 at Sedgwick County. Jayvee  action starts at 4 p.m. each day.