BRODHEAD - In basketball, backcourt pressure can sometimes dictate the outcome of a basketball game. Just ask the Brodhead Cardinals, who had a hard time getting the ball up the court in a 55-28 loss to McFarland Thursday night.
"We didn't handle the ball well," said Brodhead head coach Brian Kammerer. "I'm flat out disappointed in our play. In the game of basketball you have to move on. I was hoping this would be a good game for those that paid money to come here and it wasn't."
Kammerer added that he was displeased from the reactions to the adversity by some of his players.
"Some of our leaders didn't show that (leadership) tonight and that was a little disappointing. When things were getting rough and weren't going so well, we had some guys fold. That's not going to help us be successful," he said.
When the Cardinals did get the ball into their offensive set, the Spartans were waiting for every pass into the paint and contesting J.J. Panoske and Nick Jacobson.
"Their post defense was really good. They were post-fronting and they had weak side help," Panoske said. "Their biggest game plan was to shut down the post game and they did that."
Panoske, a 6-feet, 10-inch center, and Jacobson (6-5) have shared time in the paint the past three years, but on Thursday, McFarland brought a physical brand of basketball that closed out nearly every post possession.
"One thing that we could tell when we were scouting them was that they were intense on their traps. They make sure they get every loose ball. Every single one of those guys have quick feet and were all over the place," Panoske said.
Brodhead trailed just 11-9 after the first quarter, getting a big 3-pointer from Alex Wallace with seconds left. But late in the second, McFarland turned to Brett Kaether, who knocked down back-to-back 3s to put the Spartans up 22-13 at halftime.
"We focused mostly on Tyler (Wedel), but after the other guys started hitting shots there was nothing we could really do," Panoske said.
Kaether finished with a game-high 15 points, Tyler Wedel had 14 and James Runde had 10 for McFarland.
An 18-4 third quarter run by McFarland put the game out of reach. Brodhead had a chance to turn around the momentum when McFarland's James Runde was called for a technical with 4 minutes, 27 seconds left in the frame, but an inability to hit shots from the field allowed the Spartans to maintain control of the game.
Kammerer ripped into his players on the bench between quarters, looking for a spark.
"A lot of that was frustration on my part. When you turn the ball over that much and guys pout and that type of thing I questioned their leadership. Some guys really responded in the fourth. I was happy with how some of the guys finished," Kammerer said.
Panoske finished with 12 points, nearly dozen rebounds and seven blocked shots before fouling out with 1:53 left. Kammerer said that he thought Panoske did a good job trying to incorporate his teammates and that his offense needs to find another scorer besides the UW-Milwaukee recruit.
Panoske meanwhile said that he feels the team needs to pick up the intensity in practice if they want to get better.
"I think we're practicing a lot slower than we should be. We're not going as intense and we're not going as hard," Panoske said. "Coach even told us we have to start picking things up. I think if we pick it up in practice it's going to show a lot more in games."
Brodhead's next chance to turn its play around is Tuesday at Evansville.
"Hopefully things come around. We have a game on Tuesday and we have to go," Kammerer said.
"We didn't handle the ball well," said Brodhead head coach Brian Kammerer. "I'm flat out disappointed in our play. In the game of basketball you have to move on. I was hoping this would be a good game for those that paid money to come here and it wasn't."
Kammerer added that he was displeased from the reactions to the adversity by some of his players.
"Some of our leaders didn't show that (leadership) tonight and that was a little disappointing. When things were getting rough and weren't going so well, we had some guys fold. That's not going to help us be successful," he said.
When the Cardinals did get the ball into their offensive set, the Spartans were waiting for every pass into the paint and contesting J.J. Panoske and Nick Jacobson.
"Their post defense was really good. They were post-fronting and they had weak side help," Panoske said. "Their biggest game plan was to shut down the post game and they did that."
Panoske, a 6-feet, 10-inch center, and Jacobson (6-5) have shared time in the paint the past three years, but on Thursday, McFarland brought a physical brand of basketball that closed out nearly every post possession.
"One thing that we could tell when we were scouting them was that they were intense on their traps. They make sure they get every loose ball. Every single one of those guys have quick feet and were all over the place," Panoske said.
Brodhead trailed just 11-9 after the first quarter, getting a big 3-pointer from Alex Wallace with seconds left. But late in the second, McFarland turned to Brett Kaether, who knocked down back-to-back 3s to put the Spartans up 22-13 at halftime.
"We focused mostly on Tyler (Wedel), but after the other guys started hitting shots there was nothing we could really do," Panoske said.
Kaether finished with a game-high 15 points, Tyler Wedel had 14 and James Runde had 10 for McFarland.
An 18-4 third quarter run by McFarland put the game out of reach. Brodhead had a chance to turn around the momentum when McFarland's James Runde was called for a technical with 4 minutes, 27 seconds left in the frame, but an inability to hit shots from the field allowed the Spartans to maintain control of the game.
Kammerer ripped into his players on the bench between quarters, looking for a spark.
"A lot of that was frustration on my part. When you turn the ball over that much and guys pout and that type of thing I questioned their leadership. Some guys really responded in the fourth. I was happy with how some of the guys finished," Kammerer said.
Panoske finished with 12 points, nearly dozen rebounds and seven blocked shots before fouling out with 1:53 left. Kammerer said that he thought Panoske did a good job trying to incorporate his teammates and that his offense needs to find another scorer besides the UW-Milwaukee recruit.
Panoske meanwhile said that he feels the team needs to pick up the intensity in practice if they want to get better.
"I think we're practicing a lot slower than we should be. We're not going as intense and we're not going as hard," Panoske said. "Coach even told us we have to start picking things up. I think if we pick it up in practice it's going to show a lot more in games."
Brodhead's next chance to turn its play around is Tuesday at Evansville.
"Hopefully things come around. We have a game on Tuesday and we have to go," Kammerer said.
