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PUBLISHED: Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Missed opportunity



MAYVILLE — With the score tied heading into the fourth quarter on Monday night, LakeVille coach Brian Titsworth knew that in order for his team to end up defeating Mayville, they would have to take advantage of every opportunity they could get.

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The thing is, it wasn't the Falcons who capitalized when they needed it the most.

Mayville made all the clutch plays it had to in the fourth quarter on Monday, outpacing the Falcons over the last eight minutes of the game to pull out the 50-45 non-conference win over LakeVille.

For Titsworth, it was a disappointing end to a game that up until the final quarter had looked promising.

"In the final quarter, we had some open shots and we didn't make them," Titsworth said. "We threw the ball away when we could least afford to. We didn't capitalize on the opportunities that were presented to us.

"And they outshot us at the free throw line in the fourth as well."

Mayville outscored LakeVille 14-9 in the fourth quarter. The Wildcats made sure to get the easy buckets when they could, as Mayville shot 8-for-10 from the charity stripe in the game's final quarter. LakeVille attempted just four free throws in the fourth, making good on two of those attempts.

"That was the difference right there," Titsworth said. "We had some troubles adjusting to the Mayville defense in the fourth quarter. Their press in the fourth gave up problems when we tried to inbound the ball.

"We got a little out of control."

The fourth quarter was back-and-forth as the two teams jockeyed for the advantage right up until the game's final seconds.

LakeVille (5-8) held onto a 42-40 lead with 3:44 left on the clock until a layup by Mayville's Brett Beckett tied the score up for the Wildcats. Beckett finished the game with 15 points, including making 8-of-10 from the free throw line.

Beckett made the first end of two free throw attempts to give the Wildcats the lead for good with 1:57 left. Beckett then made two more free throws before Asthon Workman nailed two more with 12.4 seconds left to wrap up the victory. Workman led all scorers with 19 points along with grabbing a game-high eight rebounds.

"We had this one late in the game," Titsworth said. "We just let it get away from us by not being able to capitalize when we needed it the most. And it wasn't just in the fourth quarter.

"We were missing easy layups during the first half as well."

Mayville started the game out on the right note. The Wildcats went on a 7-0 run over the first three minutes of the game, using a full court press to force the Falcons to turn the ball over. Titsworth called a timeout and calmed his team down, which must have worked because LakeVille closed the quarter with an 8-0 run to take the one point lead after the first quarter ended.

LakeVille kept up the defensive pressure in the second, keeping the Wildcats from scoring a field goal for more than an eight minute span until MayvilleÕs Josh Franks hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 10-10. ÒWe were throwing the ball away during that time,Ó Titsworth said. ÒWe missed some easy passes and we missed some easy shots.Ó LakeVille led 18-17 at the half before both teams offenses exploded in the third. The Wildcats outscored LV 19-18 in the third before setting up the dramatic final quarter.

For LakeVille, Nick Strong led with 11 points.

ÒOf our eight losses this year, they always seem to go like this one,Ó Titsworth said. ÒWe need to fix that if we want to win some more games.Ó





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