LAFAYETTE — A shake of the head and a shrug of the shoulders were common responses from 21st Century after a 77-59 loss in Saturday’s semistate.
“I just didn’t understand why those shots weren’t going in,” Cougars coach Rodney Williams said.
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The players wore similar expressions and voiced similar opinions.
“We were confident in our shots, but they just weren’t falling,” a teary-eyed junior DeAndre Gholston said. “We were probably little too anxious to shoot.”
The Cougars shot just 34.8 percent (24-for-69) from the floor — including 13.8 percent (4-for-29) from 3-point range — in the loss to Lafayette Central Catholic in the Class A Lafayette Jefferson Semistate.
The first few shots from 21st Century (19-9) were good, with the Cougars opening on a 6-0 run. Lafayette (22-6) found its rhythm later in the first quarter, taking a 14-8 lead to start the second.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Tyler Powers were part of a stretch in the first and second quarters when the Knights outscored the Cougars 20-5, helping Lafayette build a 29-21 halftime lead.
“That was a lot to recover from,” Williams said of his team’s halftime deficit. “It wasn’t our best start. I was a little disappointed that we didn’t go inside as much as we should have earlier in the game.”
It only got worse for 21st Century in the second half. The Cougars missed all five of their 3-point attempts in the third quarter, while the Knights started picking apart the press.
“We went against six guys all week, working on breaking the press,” Lafayette coach David Barrett said. “Thursday night was ugly, but by Friday we got it down and (Saturday) we took care of business.”
By the end of the third quarter, Lafayette was up 48-33 and stretched its advantage to 22 points early in the fourth.
The Cougars didn’t go away quietly, though, cutting that deficit to 62-52 with just under four minutes remaining.
“They never gave up,” Williams said. “I really appreciated their effort.”
On the next possession, senior Core’von Lott lined up a 3-pointer from the left elbow, thinking three words after releasing the shot that could’ve made it a single-digit game.
“Please go in,” he said.
It didn’t, just like 14 of the 15 misses on 3-pointers by the Cougars in the second half. After the Knights rebounded that miss, Ben Tharp hit a pair of free throws and the Cougars never got that close again.
Gholston finished with 20 points to lead the Cougars, while freshman Johnell Davis added 18. Carson Barrett scored a game-high 21 for Lafayette.
After losing at semistate for the second straight year, though, Williams was adamant his team would find a way to get over the hurdle.
“We’ll see you again next year,” he said. “We’ll be back.”
Dave Melton is a freelance writer for the Post-Tribune.