By Dan Truttschel
Sports Correspondent
An early double-digit deficit last week against visiting Edgerton put the Big Foot boys basketball team in a bit of a bind.
The Chiefs found a way to battle through that, however, and had their chances to pull off the comeback.
Unfortunately, some missed opportunities kept that from happening.
Edgerton led by seven at halftime and held off a late Big Foot rally that saw the Chiefs pull within four with about five minutes left in a 64-54 Rock Valley Conference victory.
The loss dropped Big Foot to 3-10 overall and 2-5 in the RVC.
Big Foot coach Mike Dowden said he and his staff continue to look for answers, especially offensively.
“I think we are in a funk offensively, and (Edgerton) was able to keep that going,” he said. “We have to be able to get out of that and find a few ways to make some easy shots and get some easy points.
“We are struggling with it, but once we are able to get out of it, I think we will get back to the winning ways.”
There wasn’t any magic formula to Edgerton’s early success – or the Chiefs struggles in the first half, Dowden said.
That just came down to one team knocking in shots and another struggling to do so.
“To be honest, they hit a few shots and got a few stops, and that just turned it into a double-digit game,” he said. “Again, I felt like we got a lot of good looks, but we were not able to make them. Ultimately, we need our defensive intensity to pick it up.”
Not all was lost for Big Foot, as the Chiefs rallied to pull within four points late. Edgerton outscored Big Foot by three points in the final 18 minutes.
And once again, the formula really was quite simple.
“We were able to make a few of the shots that we had missed before and finally got some defensive rebounds,” Dowden said.
“Our defensive rebounding percentage is awful, and we are giving up way too many second chances. When we were able to limit them, we were able to get stops.”
Logan Eischeid led the Chiefs with 17 points, followed by Beau Cary with 15. Max Hildebrandt, Heath Dillenbeck and Michael Petkoff each added six.
Big Foot returns to action tonight when it hosts Palmyra-Eagle at 7:15 p.m. The Panthers are 5-6 overall and 1-6 in the RVC.
Dowden said the keys to success against the Trojans remain the same.
“We have to improve here,” he said. “There is no doubt in my mind that our problems start with our lack of rebounding and our second chances that we give up.
“They still love to spread the floor, drive for layups or catch and shoot for the three. We will have to keep our man in front of us, close out to shooters and then rebound.”
Looking at the RVC standings, Beloit Turner is running away with things in the South, as the Trojans are 7-1, three games ahead of Clinton’s 3-4. Brodhead and Big Foot are next at 2-5, followed by Palmyra and Parkview at 1-6.
