Shooting woes doom Mustangs again

LANGLEY --- Postseason basketball brought a clean slate for each area high school team Tuesday night.

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But the shooting woes that plagued the Midland Valley boys team all season long followed the Mustangs into the playoffs and became their undoing in a 51-44 Class AAA first-round loss to Camden.

"It was difficult for us to make any kind of shots tonight," Midland Valley guard Jeremy Robinson said. "They were playing good defense."

The visiting Bulldogs ran a triangle-and-two, playing man-to-man against leading scorers Marquett Carr and Nolan Meyer and leaving the rest of the Mustang offense against a three-man zone.

Midland Valley took advantage early by inverting its offense, leaving forward Niko Hatcher open to run the baseline and guards Shaquille Hightower and Robinson free on back door cuts.

The Mustangs executed their offense well enough for a four-point halftime lead, but Midland Valley's offense wasn't consistent enough in the second half.

Carr and Meyer combined for just eight points and the team shot 30.2 percent (16 of 53) from the field, as Camden outscored Midland Valley 27-16 in the second half to take the victory.

"Offensive execution has been the bugaboo all year for us," Midland Valley head coach Mark Snelgrove said. "We win because we play good defense."

Defense kept the Mustangs in the game early. Robinson held Camden leading scorer Robert Council to one basket in the first half, but the Midland Valley guard picked up his third foul one minute before halftime and remained in foul trouble the rest of the night.

Backup guard Jamar Lott filled in defensively for Carr, but Lott, returning from an ankle injury earlier this year, wasn't at 100 percent and Council finished with 11 points.

The two teams entered the fourth quarter tied at 34 after Hatcher's 3-point play came with 2:26 left in the third quarter, but Midland Valley went more than six and a half minutes without scoring, and the lack of offense became the Mustangs undoing.

Midland Valley could only match baskets with Camden the rest of the way as the Bulldogs hit 9 of 11 free-throw attempts in a five-minute span in the fourth quarter to seal the win.

SaVonn Wingate led Camden with 14 points, while T.J. Perkins added 12.

Hatcher scored 15 points for Midland Valley, which finished the season 19-6.