Knight shooting woes continue in third straight loss

For the third straight game, Fremont-Mills struggled with its shooting and for the third straight game that proved costly.

The Knights shot just 30 percent from the field and scored a season-low in points in a 49-32 loss to Underwood in Tabor Saturday night.

“As of right now, we are struggling to score,” said Fremont-Mills coach Steve Raymond, whose team dropped to 2-4 on the season. “When the ball doesn’t go in the hole, it affects other aspects of your game.

Those offensive woes have bled into all aspects of the Knights’ game as Raymond continued to hammer home better ball movement focus.

“We have to get better at getting the ball to the third, fourth and fifth side of the floor and finding the team shot,” Raymond said. “Our boys are just trying to force it too much on the offensive end. In turn, that has affected our defensive and rebounding efforts. We simply have to play harder and smarter on both ends. The one good thing is, we do have the type of players that can get this turned around. Our boys will go to practice and work hard. Just have to improve.”

The Knights trailed 25-10 at the half but hung around and never allowed the Eagles to put them away until midway through the fourth quarter.

Underwood held a 38-25 edge on the board and went 8-of-12 at the line to the Knights’ one make in two attempts.

Our legs were a little dead from the night before,” Raymond said. “We just had a poor start and could not get out of the hole. Defensively, we played alright. Just couldn’t get it going on the offensive end.”

Jalen Humphrey came up big for Underwood. The senior poured in 18 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out six assists.

Cooper Langfelt paced the Knights with 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc.

Stanton 74,
Fremont-Mills 49

Donnie Weis scored 25 points and Drake Johnson 19 to lead Stanton to a 74-49 victory over Fremont-Mills in Corner Conference basketball Friday.

After an evenly played first quarter that saw them take a slim 19-13 lead, Stanton stepped up their defense and flipped into instant offense to out-score the Knights 37-22 over the second and third quarters.

“Their pressure effected us in the second half,” said Fremont-Mills coach Steve Raymond. We did a poor job of handling their traps and simply turned the ball over too much. We need to get better at valuing possession of the ball. When you waste possessions and allow Stanton to get up the floor in transition off of live ball turnovers, they are going to win."

Mason Vanatta led the way for Fremont-Mills with 17 points and 11 rebounds.

Sidney 50,
Fremont-Mills 38

Fremont-Mills never quite found its offensive rhythm and Sidney took advantage in a 50-38 Cowboy victory in Corner Conference boys basketball in Sidney last Tuesday.

The Knights shot a season-low 28.5 percent from the field (14-of-49) and scored a season-low in points in the loss.

Fremont-Mills Coach Steve Raymond said his team’s offensive issues against the Cowboys were predominantly self-inflicted. They struggled, he said, to get good “team shots” all night long.

“Our role players are trying to do a little more than what they are capable of and we are not getting the ball into good spots to score,” Raymond said. “We are taking too many one pass shots and are wasting possessions by either shooting too early or turning the ball over.

“As the quote goes, ‘shooting cures a multiple of sins.’ When those early shots go in, your offense looks good. When they don’t, you struggle. That is something that we are trying to improve on and will work harder on in practice.”
Defensively, Raymond said, his team wasn’t much more successful.

“Their size inside wore us down and we did a poor job of being in help position,” Raymond said. “We also have been struggling rebounding and have given teams more than one shot per possession.”

Mason Vanatta was the lone player in double-figures with 21 points for Fremont-Mills. Just one other Knights score six or more points.

“We got some work to do,” Raymond said. “Our kids know it and they will improve. However, I am still proud of our group. They stick together and realize that they have the potential to do some good things. Some times it takes teams longer than others to mesh and right now, that is what we are trying to fix.”

Noah Jorgenson scored a game-high 23 points to lead Sidney.