MECHANICSBURG – Mechanicsburg was able to hang with West Jefferson for a quarter Tuesday night, but the visitors used a big second period to pull away and win, 71-40, in non-league boys basketball.
“Give West Jeff some credit. They’re a good basketball team and they made some shots tonight,” MHS Coach Tyler Craig said. “On the other hand, if we continue with that kind of effort and control the things we can control, the ceiling for this team is very high.”
Mechanicsburg missed some opportunities and turned the ball over too much – but those are things that will come with more experience.
“We have to do a better job being strong with the basketball and realizing that when we drive in the lane and make the defense move, we’re hard to guard,” Craig said. “We’re really easy to guard right now. Some of that is youth and some is the limited amount of time we’ve had with our guys. Our football team had an awesome season and we support them, but that’s a bit of an obstacle for us.”
Chris Taylor scored 26 points for the Indians, including a layup as time expired. Mack DeLong added 7 points for the home team.
“I can’t ask much more effort-wise from my guys. I mean, Chris Taylor busts his butt and gets a steal and a layup in at the buzzer. That’s how hard we fight and that’s the mentality we have to have going forward,” Craig said.
In the jayvee game, the Roughriders prevailed, 68-14. C.J. Dingey and Colton Mays each scored 4 points for the Indians.
Mechanicsburg (0-3) hosts Fairbanks Friday night.
