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The Combs boys’ basketball team is in the midst of playing six of seven games against opponents that are ranked No. 22 or higher, and so far the Coyotes have been on the losing end of the first three in that stretch.
After a couple of close losses earlier this week to No. 19 Snowflake – the defending state champion – and No. 10 Verrado, the Yotes were on the wrong side of a 63 – 44 lopsided loss to No. 22 Scottsdale Prep on Friday night.
Combs’ head coach Kirk Fauske was asked after the game if playing three games in four nights may have taken on a toll on his team, but he refused to use it as an excuse.
Instead, he said, the biggest issue for his team this season has been its defense.
“Against Snowflake we played as good as we could play,” Fauske said following Friday’s loss. “Against Verrado we had some adversity before the game and we came out with some physicality. Tonight I think we ran out of gas and (perhaps) our guys overlooked them.”
The Yotes are simply allowing too many points per game or, at the very least, not getting a key defensive stop when they need one.
They’ve allowed 60 points or more in 9 of their 11 losses this season, which includes six by five points or less. In five of their seven wins the Yotes held opponents to less than 60 points, and in the other two wins – against Maricopa and Miami – they allowed 60 and 64, respectively.
By comparison, last year’s state runner-up team allowed 60 points two times in 34 games and only one of them was a loss. The other was a 63 – 62 victory against Coolidge.
The Coyotes’ poor defense was on display again in Friday’s loss, in addition to inconsistent mental toughness – more on that later.
Scottsdale Prep raced out to a 6 – 0 lead before Fauske burned a timeout to get his team focused. Yotes’ junior forward Clayten McCarthy scored the game’s next four points before the Spartans closed the quarter with a 9 – 2 run.
The Spartans dominated the boards at both ends of the court and took advantage of the Yotes’ inadequate defense to take a 17 – 6 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Things only got worse in the second quarter as the Spartans opened a 16-point lead before the Yotes’ showed some mental toughness, leading to a 10 – 2 run that ended the half. The late surge, which was highlighted by five-straight points from junior Josh Allen and a three-pointer from sophomore Brian Tucker, cut the Spartans lead in half at the break, 28 – 20.
Combs’ junior Skylar Johnson scored two of his five points on the opening possession of the second half to cut the Spartans’ lead to six, but that’s as close as the Yotes would get.
Coyotes’ sophomore point guard Brian Tucker (3) buries a three-pointer against Scottsdale Prep on Friday night.
A couple of technical fouls – albeit questionable calls – and a flagrant foul against the Yotes in the second half spurred a lack of mental toughness, resulting in Scottsdale Prep opening a 17-point lead midway through the third quarter and never looking back on the
way to their sixth win of the season.
“We’re young,” said Fauske, quasi-justifying his team’s second-half collapse. “We’re young and immature. We’re fighting to try to find an identity. I think tonight, in that third quarter, our youngness came out after being close in our previous two games.”
For the Coyotes, who suffered their first sectional loss, Allen scored a team-high 10 points and tied McCarthy with a team-high six rebounds. Tucker finished with eight points while McCarthy led the team with four assists.
Things won’t get any easier as the Yotes will now face three of the top-four ranked teams in their next four games.
Upcoming schedule: Jan. 12 vs. Estrella Foothills, Jan. 13 vs. Veritas Prep, Jan. 15 at Scottsdale Christian Academy, and Jan. 19 vs. Valley Christian. All games are scheduled for 7 p.m.
Combs’ Andrew Craven (33) has his shot blocked by a Scottsdale Prep defender. The Spartans defeated the Coyotes on Friday night, 63 – 44.
Andrew Luberda began writing for Copper Area News Publishers (CANP) in February 2013 after working 15 years in Healthcare Financial Management. Andy covers sports for 11 high schools. His stories are published in Copper Basin News, San Manuel Miner and Superior Sun, in addition to the San Tan Valley Daily PRSS and CopperArea websites. Additionally, he has written human interest stories and business profiles. In May 2012, he earned an AAS in Sports Management at Central Arizona College before graduating with a BS in Communication from Arizona State University in 2014. He and his wife, Kelli, have three sons – AJ, Kyle, and Kade.
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