E.A. Sports Today

Donoho drops opener

Falcons held a three-point lead going into the fourth quarter but falls to Cornerstone; Steed leads Donoho scorers with 19

By East Alabama Sports Today

ANNISTON (Nov. 11) – The thing about season openers is you see some things you like and you see some things that need attention.

Donoho coach Alex Mastin saw a little of both Friday night as the Falcons fell to Cornerstone 70-65.

The Falcons took a three-point lead into the fourth quarter, but couldn’t hold it as Cornerstone began making shots it hadn’t in the first three quarters of the game.

“We had the ball down three with 30 seconds left and lost it out of bounds,” Mastin said. “If you’d have told me we’d be in that situation before the game, down three with 30 seconds left, then I’d have taken it. We’ll go back and study as a team from that moment. We’ve got to do better there.”

There were plenty of positives, though. Veteran Garrett Steed led the Falcons with 19 points. Tucker Sedmak, their first or second player off the bench last year, was their go-to guy when they needed a basket and he finished with 16.

And the Falcons also were 21-of-27 from the free throw line, a marked improvement over last season when they shot 40 percent from the line.

“We have a lot of kids who hadn’t played a lot of varsity basketball before and they got a lot of time,” Mastin said. “It’s hard to simulate intensity in practice. That one game, it means so much for them to know how hard they have to play each possession.

“Cornerstone pressed us the whole night and it completely took us out of what we like to do. In a way it was good to play them early because we don’t have a lot of stuff in, but at the same time we hadn’t gotten to practice the press offense as much as we like.”

Cornerstone 70, Donoho 65

CORNERSTONE (1-0) – Kobe Bozeman 0 0-0 0, Will Stanford 3 0-0 7, Rotich 2 0-0 6, D.J. Grayson 4 5-6 15, Merchant 5 2-3 13, Rhyan Burks 1 0-1 3, Malik Nathan 1 0-0 2, Wilson 6 0-0 17, Caleb Moore 1 0-0 3, Preston London 1 2-2 4. Totals 24 10-15 70.

DONOHO (0-1) – Jason Howard 0 0-0 0, Jack Svensen 0 0-0 0, Garrett Steed 5 8-10 19, John Hutto 0 0-0 0, Jacob Lecroy 3 2-3 9, Mateen Ibrahim 1 0-0 2, Harrison Hughston 3 2-4 9, Ross Hagan 2 0-0 4, Wilson Russell 0 0-0 0, Will Nelson 1 3-3 6, Tucker Sedmak 5 5-7 16. Totals 19 21-27 65.

Cornerstone 18 13 21 18 — 70
Donoho 13 21 21 10 — 65

3-point goals: Cornerstone 11 (Stanford, Rotich 2, Grayson 2, Burks, Wilson 5, Moore); Donoho 6 (Steed, Lecroy, Hughston 2, Nelson, Sedmak). Fouled Out: Nelson. Technical fouls: Moore. Total fouls: Cornerstone 24, Donoho 17. Officials: Calvin Oden, Warren Askew, James Wright.

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