By Phil Keren

Correspondent

The Mogadore boys basketball team is going through a rough stretch, but their leader says they are playing with plenty of energy and, most importantly, a winning attitude.

“I love the attitude of my team right now,” Mogadore’s first-year head coach Conner Wess said on Friday after his team’s 58-29 loss to Lake Center Christian. “They’re lifting me up a lot more than I expected out of a stretch like this.”

Mogadore (4-6) has now lost three games in a row and four of its last five. Wess noted his team is playing hard, but has struggled to hit shots.

Against Lake Center, the Wildcats’ ball movement yielded plenty of open looks from the 3-point line, but few shots found the bottom of the net.

“I take full blame for all this,” Wess said. “It’s a stretch that I did not envision us going down. I think we have talent. I think we have guys that I’m trying to put in the best position for them to succeed and that’s on me right now, so we got to figure it out.”

Lake Center Christian’s (9-3, 3-0) intense defensive approach created turnovers that led to easy transition baskets and a 11-0 lead halfway through the first quarter. Mogadore didn’t score until the three-minute mark of the period. A driving layup by Mogadore junior Gavin Gardner and a lay-in by senior Jordon Smith cut Lake Center’s lead to 11-4. The Wildcats were unable to reduce the Lake Center lead any more the rest of the way and the first quarter ended with Lake Center leading, 17-4.

Mogadore senior Tyler Pendergast swished a three-pointer at the start of the second quarter to make the score 17-7. Lake Center answered with a 12-2 run to build a 29-9 lead by the midway point of the quarter. Lake Center’s scoring surge included a Euro Step layup and a trey by sophomore Noah Harper, a three-pointer and a lay-in from junior Jacob Raineri and a layup by sophomore Ty Zook. Harper closed the first half with a traditional three-point play to give the Tigers a 36-12 advantage at halftime.

Lake Center Christian Head Coach Greg Bryte said he felt his played with a high level of energy from the opening tip.

“We were very active tonight from the start,” Bryte said. “We knew they might be pressing us a little bit so we were ready for that, get it up and down. We made basketball plays versus the press and got us some easy shots.”

Bryte noted his staff called on the players to turn up the defensive intensity and that approach paid dividends against Mogadore.

“We’ve been working on getting out and getting on people and being a little more aggressive,” Bryte said. “We really showed that tonight. They had a hard time getting the ball to the hoop, let alone getting a shot off, at least early on.”

In the third quarter, Lake Center extended their lead to 30 and led 49-14 at one point. Despite trailing by a large amount, the Wildcats continued playing with high level of effort throughout the fourth period. They played aggressive defense, created turnovers and scored enough to drop the Lake Center lead below 30 and stop the running clock.

Wess said he was “proud” of his team’s strong effort throughout the second half.

“There was a problem about two weeks ago where our effort dropped really bad when we go down,” Wess said. “They didn’t show that tonight.”

As he and his staff search for the right formula, Wess noted his players are taking the court with the right mindset.

“It’s not going our way right now, so again, I’m really proud of our guys for the vibe and the energy when we come back in the locker room after losses like this because I’m a mess, but they’re not,” Wess said. “I’m happy about it…It’s not like I’m questioning their seriousness because they are playing hard and I’m very proud of their attitudes when things don’t go our way… We’ve been trying to preach that. They’re doing every thing we say, so I can’t blame them one bit.”

Smith scored 19 points for Mogadore, while Gardner had 5.

Harper led Lake Center Christian with 19 points, while juniors Brody Zook and Jacob Rainieri scored 10 each.