Wolves facing adversity for first time this season

Published 11:42 am Wednesday, January 19, 2022

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GLENMORA — Monterey had a rough Tuesday night in Glenmora. The Wildcats edged out the Wolves 46-38 in a district match, and the Lady Wolves fell 73-48. 

In the last three weeks, the Wolves have had two games canceled. They faced a week-long gap without any games between their two district losses.

Head coach Eric Richard said it was not the break that caused the loss. His team did not play well. They struggled to find an offensive rhythm and did not play well defensively. 

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“We got what we deserved,” Richard said. “We didn’t make our shots. We had makeable shots we usually make, and I don’t think we shot the ball well. They forced us to play faster on offense than we like to. I can’t point out why we didn’t play well. Basketball is a miss or make game. Last night was one of those nights.”

The Lady Wolves went a week without playing against another team in basketball before they played Glenmora. They were a difficult matchup, he said. 

Monterey fought and stayed in the game, he said. With two minutes left, they were down by 14 points, so he subbed in some players from the bench, and that is when the game got out of hand. 

“I thought they played pretty good for most of the game,” Richard said. “Glenmora is very talented. They have a good post player who gave us trouble last night. They have good guard play and good quickness. They have a good all-around team.”

Richard’s girls are 1-1 in district play with Grace Christian at home this Friday. 

His boys have had an 0-2 start to district play and are getting their first taste of adversity this season. He said the approach his squad takes when they are on an eight-game win streak should apply to when they lose games. 

This approach is to flush the previous night’s game when they wake up and focus on improving for the next game. He said a team handles the emotional roller coaster of a season by not getting too high when things are going well or too low when they are going bad. 

“If you carry a loss with you to the next game, you will lose the next game because of that,” Richard said. “You have to be mentally tough and push through some adversity.” 

Monterey hosts Grace Christian Friday night with the girls’ tip-off at 5:30 p.m.