Now that Bellefontaine’s boys basketball team has the monkey off its back with its first win, the focus is to relax and enjoy the final stretch of the season.
“I told the guys that this is like our tournament,” said BHS head coach Jason Calton. “We want to embrace these last few games and play with nothing to lose.”
The Chiefs pulled out a one-point victory over Graham on Tuesday to snap a 17-game losing skid. They will try to maintain that momentum Friday with a road trip to Springfield Shawnee.
“I wanted our guys to take a little time and enjoy Tuesday’s win,” said Calton. “They deserved that. Now, we have to get back to work and continue to build some confidence.”
The Braves (10-8, 3-5) roughed up Bellefontaine 70-39 in the first meeting this season.
“I feel like that was a game we let get away from us,” said Calton. “We did not fight very well. We have to make them feel more uncomfortable. We made things were too easy for them in that first game.”
Shawnee has dropped its last two games, falling to Jonathan Alder 56-43 last Friday and losing to Watterson 47-28 on Saturday. The Braves are scoring 52 points per game while allowing 50 per contest.
Shawnee has featured a balanced scoring attack this season. Senior guard Isaac Siemon has led the way with 15.7 points per game. Junior forward Drew Mitch is scoring 11.3 ppg and freshman guard Zion Crowe is adding 10 ppg.