Boys Basketball comeback effort falls short in opener vs. Saint Mark’s

By Kevin Eickman

Bucs fall to Saint Marks in season opener

When Milford and Saint Mark’s battle in boys’ basketball, the game will normally be physical and close. That was precisely the case this past Saturday as Saint Mark’s defeated Milford 43-39.

Both teams presented a solid defense, as Saint Mark’s repeatedly denied Milford the opportunity to get into their sets, and Milford pressed early and often. The result was a turnover-filled game where the pressure never let up.

What made the game more challenging for Milford, however, was a second quarter in which they were only able to manage three points. The teams would go into the locker rooms at halftime with Milford trailing 21-14 and facing a big hill . Milford coach Lamarr Shorts said he felt it was a challenge his team could overcome.

“Obviously we didn’t really like the second quarter,” Shorts said. “They challenged us to hit some long-range shots, and we didn’t connect on them even though we had some good looks.”

Milford came out of the locker room fired up and battled back to even the score at 30-30 as the fourth quarter got underway. In the fourth quarter, Milford again had some open looks they failed to connect.

At the same time Saint Mark’s was solid on the boards and made the key baskets when they needed to. In the end, it was a game that Milford could have won, but also one that they will learn from.

“We knew what we were going to see from them. There were no surprises, but we couldn’t execute when we needed to,” Shorts said. “These are the things we are going to need to fix as the season goes forward.”

Milford’s high scorer, senior Matthew Adams, who had 10 points in the game, was disappointed with the loss but happy with the effort.

You saw it: We never gave up, and we played very hard today,” Adams said. “We made some mistakes, but we can clean that up. What matters most is that we remain positive, and this group believes in each other, and we will get better as the year goes on.”

Milford has two road games this week. The first will be at Polytech on Tuesday, while the second will be at Sussex Tech on Thursday.