Being on the wrong side of the 13-0 run that bridged the first and second quarters prevented Fayetteville-Manlius from capitalizing on its fast start and resulted in its 73-40 loss to Nottingham.
Prior to that run, F-M (5-10, 1-9) looked like it was headed down a positive path. The Hornets had a 7-2 lead and gained some confidence that had the potential of carrying them to a victory, but they just couldn’t sustain it for long enough to gain full control of the game.
During that run, the Hornets’ defense undeniably could have been better, nevertheless, their offense went into one of those lulls that we have seen all season, and, often times, empty offensive possessions meant transition opportunities and points for Nottingham (7-5, 4-5).
No matter how you cut it, that was the story of the entire game after F-M’s quick start and it impacted different aspects of the contest at different times and has also been the barrier between the Hornets and a few victories.
There were times when the offense had a rhythm going and the defense was letting up, and then there were times when the defense was pretty good, but scoring was a challenge.
F-M had two quarters where it allowed north of 20 points and then the team failed to reach the 10-point mark in the other two quarters and, when you do that, it is difficult to accomplish the goals that you set at the beginning of the year.
Even though they looked good to begin the game, the Hornets just never had that extra boost and the sense of urgency that a team needs in order to win games. They didn’t do the things that have guided them to their wins throughout the season.
Part of that is enthusiasm. When they got the road win over West Genesee, the defense was really good, but the offense was great because of the energy that they brought. In this one, F-M didn’t have that chip on its shoulder that would have put it in a position to win this game.
Both teams play again on Tuesday night. F-M hosts Henninger and Nottingham visits Baldwinsville.
