Bluejays tumble in back-to-back games
Tabor men narrowly fall to Sterling, Bethany
By RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
There's a logjam atop the heated KCAC. Unfortunately for the Bluejays, they're in a three-way race for third place instead of first, thanks to a frustrating and winless week.
Don't bother telling Bluejay coach Don Brubacher where his team is in the standings.
All he's concerned with is getting the team back to playing their game and finding some consistency.
Tabor entered last week with a good chance to stay in the thick of the pack for the league's top spot.
All the Bluejays needed to do was unseat front-runner Bethany Thursday in Hillsboro and beat Sterling two nights later on the road.
Both turned out to be too tall an order, especially for a team that struggles taking care of the basketball.
Using 25 points off 21 Bluejay turnovers and frigid second half shooting, the Warriors (9-8, 6-2) dropped Tabor (10-8, 4-4) Saturday with a 69-59 punch in the gut.
The loss puts Tabor three games behind Bethany and two behind the second-place trio of McPherson, Southwestern, and the Warriors.
That came after the Swedes (12-5, 7-1) put a two-game distance between themselves and Tabor Thursday with a 69-63 stinker.
Nineteen turnovers a game like the Bluejays averaged in the two losses won't get the job done against the Warriors or the Swedes, at home or on the road.
Turnovers were the culprit in wiping out good effort by the Bluejays in both games.
"The two things that jump out at you the most are the 21 turnovers for us and the 18 offensive rebounds for Sterling, and of course the poor shooting," Brubacher said. "You put the three together, you have the recipe for a game that is very, very difficult to win.
"We did not play well at all. We played hard on the defensive end, but we always made lots of substantial defensive errors."
Hitting 42 percent from the floor and 2-for-6 from outside might give the impression Tabor had a relatively decent first half.
For a team that thrives on getting the ball inside and knocking down the outside shots, the Bluejays started out being able to play their game.
They had an early lead before the Warriors were able to regulate what Tabor wanted to do.
Fourteen turnovers made the half anything but good, but the Bluejays were surprisingly still in the game at halftime, down 30-26.
Sterling only managed 35 percent from the field and 31 percent from behind the arc.
More than half of the Warriors' first half points came from Tabor mistakes and Chris Schneider was there to make the Bluejays pay for them.
Schneider dumped a game-high 19 points on Tabor with three steals and 5-for-12 from downtown. Eight of his 19 came in the first half.
The three point line has come up huge for the Bluejays during the last several outings.
On Saturday, it was their biggest enemy the second half, going 0-for-12 and 2-for-18 for the game.
Sterling used it to its advantage to sink 8-of-24 for 33 percent, seven coming uncontested.
The Bluejays came out the second half and pulled to within 34-32 in the opening minutes.
More from Schneider and the Bluejays were down by double digits before the midway mark.
Brad Gattis and Anthony Monson scored 16 and 14 points, respectively. Gattis' team-high seven rebounds helped Tabor edge Sterling, 45-41.
The duo again helped close the gap to four with just over 8:30 left in the game.
But the turnovers kept Tabor out of good striking distance, not to mention overshadowing a good defensive output.
Had the Warriors been able to hit their free throws the second half, they'd have hammered Tabor.
Sterling finished the night shooting 41 percent overall and a paltry 13-of-32 at the free throw line.
"You're never going to be executing offense well and have 21 turnovers for a game, that doesn't happen," Brubacher said. "When you're that disorganized and uncomfortable offensively, you typically don't shoot the ball well.
"We just had trouble finding any offense whatsoever and more than anything else, we passed the ball poorly."
Something's definitely wrong when you get nine assists, one of the many statistics particularly glaring to the Bluejays and Brubacher.
Facing uncertainty with every game, Tabor travels tonight to Ottawa for an 8 p.m. tip-off with the Braves.
The Bluejays face a tough game Saturday at home against the Southwestern Moundbuilders at 7 p.m.
