By Milla Butler
With a two-game week ahead of them, the Silver Lake Mustang men were ready to take on their first opponent of the two- the Franklin Flyers. Head coach Shaun Fisher adds his thoughts before taking on the Flyers. “Going into the game, I was hoping the guys would play with some emotion and physicality. We’re starting to get into the stretch where we need to start being more physical on both sides of the ball. I also challenged them to work inside to out on their shots. We have been struggling offensively so it was great to see some shots starting to fall.” The first quarter rolled around and the Mustangs took the lead quickly. After a low-scoring, yet successful first quarter, the score rounded off 11-5. The second two quarters also called for success for the Mustangs, the team achieving a big score gap. By the end of the second quarter, the score ended 29-18, and by the third, the Mustangs had a twenty-eight-point lead. The fourth quarter started with the scoreboard reading 53-25, and the Mustangs finished out the game with a win. The final score tallied to 67-31- another Mustang win. Not only did the game end with a win but also with a tied record. Senior Lane Conway scored seven three-pointers in the game, now sharing the single game 3-point record with Brian Fisher and two of his coaches- Shaun Fisher and Alex Ehrman. With the Mustangs maintaining the lead throughout the match, Fisher comments on the team’s ability to stay focused. “Continuing to challenge them throughout the game helped. They’re all competitors and they hold each other accountable a lot of the time. Sometimes they need a good talking to but for the most part, they understand the task at hand,” he says. Point leaders for the Mustangs include Lane Conway with twenty-six points and junior Landon Duester with nineteen. Lane Conway, senior Casey Conway, and Landon Duester also led the Mustangs in rebounds. The players earned nine, seven, and six rebounds respectively.
Next on the Mustangs’ schedule was Sumner-Eddyville-Miller; the team’s winning record was 7-5 going into the game. SEM was anticipated a change in atmosphere from the previous game, and Fisher comments on his game plan for Friday. “We will continue to work on physicality and mental toughness with them. The FKC conference is tough, and they play a tough schedule which doesn’t necessarily reflect their record. Hopefully, we can get some guys rested/healed up before the game on Friday.” The first quarter started and set the tone for the closely-scored game. After an intense first quarter, the score tallied to 10-11 with SEM taking the lead. Falling behind in the first, Silver Lake gathered the will to change up the game which called for a second quarter win. They went into halftime up by five; the game tallied to 24-19. The last half of the game was turned around once again, this time in SEM’s favor. Though Silver Lake fought hard in the third and fourth quarters, the game ended with a final score of 54-51- an SEM win. Point leaders for Silver Lake include Casey Conway and Duester, both obtaining twelve points. Casey Conway also led the team in rebounds acquiring ten. Leading the team in steals was Lane Conway, gathering nine of the Mustangs’ eight steals. Commenting on the Mustangs’ strengths and weaknesses against SEM, Fisher says, “We were able to pressure SEM near half court to create some costly turnovers on their end and we were able to capitalize on those turnovers. We were getting some good looks at the hoop but couldn’t get the ball to drop. Free throws throughout the game really hurt us as well.” Next on the Mustangs’ schedule are Wilcox-Hildreth and Lawrence-Nelson. Fisher speaks on what the Mustangs will take from SEM and carry into their next week of games. “I hope they can bring the physicality to each team we play. We have been really working on not allowing teams to do whatever they want offensively. We must step up and play physical basketball and make the other teams work for their buckets.”