There hasn’t been much that has gone in the Goshen boys basketball teams favor this season.
With the ball not always bouncing in their direction, the Warriors have competed in most games but have come up short as they have lost 11 of their last 12 games.
Their latest setback, a 49-36 Southern Buckeye Conference American Division loss to Western Brown, saw the Warriors play well to start and to end but a lackadaisical effort in the middle two quarters was the difference.
The visiting Broncos took control of the game with a 16-0 run midway through the second quarter and held off the Warriors in the second half with a strong defensive performance.
“The effort wasn’t as good as it was (the) first and fourth quarters,” Goshen coach Scott Wake said of the deciding second and third quarters. “The execution always seems to have something that gets in our way, usually ourselves. We keep working; we get our hands on balls but just can’t pull it in. We get a steal and get a layup and miss it (then) get the rebound and miss it. Seems like every game it’s something like that.”
An Austin Smith 3-pointer and Kyle Wake fast break layup off a Bronco turnover helped Goshen get to within nine, 31-22, at the break.
Neither team played all that great in the third quarter but Western Brown did enough to increase their lead to as many as 14 points before settling for a 40-29 lead going into the fourth quarter.
The Warriors would get no closer as they turned the ball over six times and missed too many opportunities to score in the final quarter.
The win wrapped up the outright SBC-American Division title for the Broncos with two weeks left in the season.
Goshen fell to 4-12 on the year, with the loss coming as their seventh in a row.
Western Brown (14-3, 8-0 SBC-A) 49 Howard 2 4 6, Kuttler 1 0 2, Woodyard 2 2 6, Nickell 4 0 11, Siemer 3 0 6, Purdon 3 2 8, Carroll 0 0 0, Piatt 1 0 2, Allen 4 0 8. Totals: 20, 8 49.
Goshen (4-12, 2-6 SBC-A) 36 Wake 3 0 7, Messer 2 4 8, Fischer 4 1 9, Taylor 1 0 2, Edwards 0 0 0, Smith 2 0 5, Ashcraft 2 0 5. Totals: 14 5 36.
Halftime: WB 31-22. 3-pointers: WB 3 (Nickell 3); G 3 (Wake, Smith, Ashcraft).
