Springfield-Montco falls to Sankofa Freedom
TOWAMENCIN >> Ryan Daley got himself and his team off to hot starts Tuesday night as Springfield-Montco took on Sankofa Freedom Academy at Dock Mennonite Academy.
The senior scored all seven of the Spartans points in the first quarter. Unfortunately, Daley’s game-high 20 points weren’t enough as Springfield fell short 57-46.
After Daley gave Springfield the lead after the first quarter the Spartans continued to grind out points and keep Sankofa off the board as they carried a one-point lead into halftime.
Inconsistent play hurt the Spartans in the second half as Sankofa started to get some shots to fall Springfield had a hard time responding on the offensive end.
Sankofa was able to get going offensively was being able to get some close looks at the net. As Sankofa was getting its looks inside it was also creating fouls on Springfield as the Spartans found themselves in foul trouble much of the second half.
“(We got into) foul trouble. Then our guys got tentative and we allowed too much penetration,” Springfield coach Gary Nolan said. “The bottom guys didn’t help off. That was the bottom line. We didn’t talk. They beat us. They beat us on the boards. I thought we missed what I thought were easy shots, we missed some tough fouls shots. Put that all together, things don’t add up well for you.”
Part of Springfield’s problem offensively was getting into sets. The Spartans put the ball in young hands, which at times caused trouble for them.
“We did not handle the ball well,” Nolan said. “If you don’t handle the ball well you’re going to struggle. They got into us, we knew that was going to happen. We just didn’t handle pressure.”
Because Springfield was inconsistent getting into sets many times that meant it cost forward Quentin Johnson a touch. Johnson finished second behind Daley on the Spartans with 15 points.
“That’s kind of been our M.O. lately,” Nolan said of Daley and Johnson carrying the bulk of the scoring. “That’s just been happening lately. There’s not much you can do about that. Whoever scores, scores. I don’t try to spread it out. If that’s the distribution then that’s the distribution. Some nights it works.”
Moving forward for Springfield with a young team is going to present some challenges and these young Spartans are going to have to learn quickly as it has the bulk of a tough league schedule still in front of them.
“We’re young and trying to gain experience,” Nolan said. “We got five sophomores on the roster and a junior. We got a very tough league schedule. We’re the smallest team but it is what it is and we just have to fight through it and keep getting better and better every game.”
