ORANGE TWP. — The good-but-not-good-enough theme is getting old real quick.
That wasn’t hard to see on third-year coach Josh Calame’s face Saturday after Black River’s boys basketball team lost to Mapleton 62-59 in non-league play.
Black River’s Allan Benson goes up for a shot against Mapleton’s Logan Hensel during the second quarter. (RON SCHWANE / GAZETTE)
Again there were positives. Tireless point guard Allan Benson pumped in 30 points for the second time this season. Center Curtis Roupe put up 17 points and 14 rebounds. The Pirates rallied in the second half, eventually taking the lead twice in the fourth quarter.
They still lost.
“It’s definitely wearing on me, that’s for sure,” Calame said after his team fell to 2-7. “It’s wearing on us because we lack confidence in a lot of different ways, and every game you lose is another loss of confidence. It’s just unfortunate we haven’t been able to figure out how to get on the winning end of some of these games.”
Calame lamented a poor start that saw man-bun-rockin’ guard Gage Barone (25 points, 11-of-18 shooting) score 11 points in a 15-6 run by the Mounties (3-7) to open the game.
The game ultimately wasn’t decided, however, until the final minutes.
Benson got a strip-steal and layup to make the score 55-53 Pirates, but Mapleton quickly tied the game and got the ball back. Barone then crossed over a defender at the 3-point arc and banked in a running
12-footer while getting bear-hugged by another defender who desperately tried to help. Only 1:32 remained.
Barone missed the free throw, and Roupe traveled on an attempted jump stop in the lane. The Mounties’ Garrett Haines (13 points) answered with a driving layup, putting the score at 59-55, and Benson and freshman Brennan Scheck (6 rebounds, 3 assists), who was making his first varsity start, got their signals crossed and a pass went out of bounds.
The Pirates’ final chance came with them down 60-57 with 12 seconds left. Benson got off a contested look in the corner off an inbounds play but was a sliver short. Barone then split free two throws, Roupe got a tip-in with 0.6 seconds left and Haines made a free throw for the final score.
“We’ve just got to be able to finish,” Benson said. “We’re still sort of a young team, you know? We’re growing, we’re learning.”
Mapleton, which hasn’t had a winning season since 1992-93, had an opportunity to blow out the Pirates in the first half because no one could guard the speedy Barone. Forward Chase Davis (12 points, 12 rebounds, 4 steals, 2 blocks) also contributed as the Mounties led 20-12 after one quarter.
Overcoming four turnovers in the first, Benson got hot and carried the Pirates into contention. The four-year starter then went off for 13 points in the third quarter — surpassing 900 career points in the process — and gave Black River a 46-45 lead with two free throws.
The game was back-and-forth from that point, but Mapleton simply made a couple more clutch plays when pressure was at its greatest.
Black River shooting 1-for-14 from 3-point range didn’t help.
“At the beginning of the game, we just didn’t come out fast, and that led to the end of the game,” Benson said. “It just didn’t go our way.”
Note
Sophomore River Wheeler had 17 points in three quarters, but Black River’s junior varsity lost 46-39.
Mapleton 62, Black River 59
BLACK RIVER 12 16 17 14 — 59
MAPLETON 20 16 12 14 — 62
Black River — Mike Hazlett 1-0-2, Brennan Scheck 1-0-2, Curtis Roupe 8-1-17, Zach Hawley 0-0-0, Allan Benson 12-5-30, Matthew Potter 2-0-4, Derek Hawley 2-0-4, Brandon Heath 0-0-0. TOTALS: 26-6-59.
Mapleton — Garrett Haines 5-2-13, Chase Davis 5-2-12, J.J. Espy 0-0-0, Kyle Dress 2-5-9, Gage Barone 11-2-25, Tyler LeFever 1-1-3, Logan Hensel 0-0-0. TOTALS: 24-12-62.
3-point goals —Benson, Barone, Haines. Rebounds — Black River 29 (Roupe 14), Mapleton 22 (Davis 12). Assists — Black River 12 (Benson 4), Mapleton 9 (Dress 4). Records — Black River (2-7), Mapleton (3-7). Junior varsity — Mapleton 46, Black River 39.