High School Boys Basketball: West Florida falls short to out-of-state opponent, drops under .500
Fans packed the West Florida High School gym on Monday to watch their Jaguars boys basketball team play its second home game of 2023.
The hosts came in riding a four-game winning streak that has turned their season around. West Florida has three players averaging double figures in scoring this season, but their output wasn’t enough to overcome Murphy (Ala.) in the back-and-forth contest.
The Jaguars had found themselves in an uphill battle at tip-off. Murphy entered the game losers of three od their last four games and played like a team that was desperate for a win.
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They took early command of this game behind their strong defensive effort in the first quarter and never looked back. They forced 15 plus turnovers total in the game and held the Jaguars to one of their lowest shooting percentage of the season.
A stifling Panthers defense clamped down in the second half as the Jaguars fell 69-53. The home team was held to 12 points after halftime.
Senior guard Lumon May Jr. led the Jags with 15 points, 10 of which coming in the first half.
Seeing its record drop to 8-9, West Florida had its lowest scoring output in a game so far this season. The loss puts the program under .500 for the third time this season, but they still have a chance at a program first: a winning season.
After an 0-4 start to the season, the Jaguars had won 8 of their previous 12 games entering Monday.
”I have to give a lot of credit to our assistant coaches, who have also helped out during the off season training. We are studying a lot of film, watching our opponents as well as watching ourselves, recognizing how we can get better,” Jags’ head coach Phillip Childers said.
Here are three takeaways from West Florida's defeat.
Impact players
Despite the losing outcome, the Jaguars upperclassmen have stepped up to help turn their season around.
May Jr. leads the team in scoring with 13.9 points and 5.0 rebounds per game from his starting point guard position. Dominik Nicholson averages 10.6 points per game as well as 5.2 rebounds, which is good for second on the team. The 6-foot-5 junior wing player has made the most of his minutes on varsity this season.
Senior guard Korey Catchings is the squad's second-leading scorer at 11.9 points per game.
"It all began in the off season starting with summer ball," Childers said. "After playing about 40 games for the month of June, winning 31 of them, they learned how to trust each other and began to play as a team. And also during the summer, we spent a lot of time in the weight room, at the track, and the sand pit getting faster and stronger."
The guard trio of May Jr., Nicholson, and Catchings has carried West Florida, but they gotten help with the consistent inside presence of senior forward Randall Bruno, who leads the team with 8.5 rebounds per game.
High expectations
Childers is in his first season at West Florida, but he didn't shy away from high expectations in the preseason for his team.
"I expect us to have have a winning season, win districts, win regionals, and win state. This is a new season, new team, and new expectations," he said.
With their mid-season surge, the Jags have responded well to their head coach's bold statement, although the results weren't immediate.
The team dropped its first four games by an average of 14 points, but produced a plus point-differential in the 13 contests since.
West Florida currently is 2-0 in District 1-4A with a little over a month left in the regular season. The program's best season came in the 2018-19 campaign, where it finish 10-13 overall. The Jags enter Tuesday with eight games left and a real chance to eclipse 10 wins, with four of their next eight opponents possessing a .500 or worse record.
Turned things around
The Jags only scored 60 or more points once in their four-game losing streak to start the season, but have scored 60 or more points on eight different occasions since.
The hard work put in by key players over the summer has been a major contributor to this turnaround but it wasn't just that.
The players are putting in work on and off court with their focus to details. This program is new to winning and will have those occasional bad games, like against Murphy, but they are locked in for the long haul. That is what Childers appreciate most from his players especially the upperclassmen. They are leading by example.
Greg Hollis is a sports reporter for the Pensacola News Journal. He can be reached at ghollis@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Basketball: Offensive shortage dooms West Florida in home loss to Murphy
