Moniteau basketball embarrassed after KSAC semifinal loss to Clarion, turns attention to District 9 playoffs
CLARION — Two quarters into Friday night’s Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference semifinal clash with Clarion, Brendin Sankey wished he was somewhere other than PennWest Clarion’s Tippin Gymnasium.
Down 37 points and hurtling toward a 66-24 boys basketball loss, the Moniteau senior forward could’ve been at home watching a movie or binging some of “The Office” or “Landman,” two of the TV shows he’s been into lately. Or maybe he could’ve taken a trip to Sheetz with friends to try something new from the menu.
“Very frustrating and embarrassing,” Sankey said afterwards. “It’s almost like I didn’t wanna be here. I wanted to finish the game. And nobody else really wanted to (be here), either. Our plan is just to pick it up and really get mad about it and focus on the next game.”
The Warriors (16-7) went 0-for-the-first-quarter as the Bobcats (16-6) stocked up on 18 points. Moniteau finally got on the scoreboard 10:51 into the game thanks to a contested layup by Weston Cook, but Jake Jewart’s team shot 2 for 24 (8.3%) from the field during the initial two quarters, including an 0-for-8 effort from beyond the arc.
The Warriors beat Clarion 59-56 at home just over a week earlier.
“I think some of our teammates just (thought), ‘You know, it’s gonna be the same thing as the last time. We’re gonna lead the whole game and just beat them,’” Sankey said. “They had a better, full game than we did. They came here and they wanted to win — and we didn’t.”
Sankey echoed what Jewart said moments before.
“They played harder than us, straight up,” Jewart said. “They drove on us at every opportunity they got. They jumped to the ball, pushed us around and we just weren’t ready to face that.”
Moniteau went 8 for 16 (50%) the rest of the way, but the Bobcats never slowed down.
“Clearly, we didn’t really respond much,” Jewart said. “But what we did (was) we kind of got together a little bit. We started playing a little bit more as a group, and we started responding to that physicality and that speed they were playing with. We saw some good things — obviously, not a whole lot — but (there was) progress once we did respond to what they were doing.”
Weston Cook led the Warriors with nine points. No one else was able to manage more than four, while Clarion had three double-digit scorers, paced by Nathan Frederick’s 17. Jewart’s crew now turns its focus to the District 9 Class 2A playoffs.
Moniteau is the No. 2 seed and hosts No. 7 Kane in Wednesday’s first round.
“Simple. It’s done. It’s over with. Who cares?” Jewart said of his message to his team. “Be upset, be frustrated and use it to be ready to play the next team we play. It’s over with.”
MONITEAU 24
Weston Cook 4 0-0 9, Ian Ross 2 0-0 4, Andrew Zepeda 2 0-0 4, Brennan Kelly 1 0-0 3, Brendin Sankey 1 1-2 3, Dawson Cook 0 1-2 1. Totals: 10 2-4 24.
CLARION 66
Nathan Frederick 7 0-0 17, Trey Hooks 6 1-2 16, Mason Burford 5 0-0 10, Dylan Smail 4 0-0 9, Parker Miller 2 0-0 5, Wyat Watterson 2 0-0 4, Hayden Weber 1 0-0 3, Patrick Durish 1 0-0 2. Totals: 27 1-2 66.
Moniteau 0 5 8 11 — 24
Clarion 18 24 8 16 — 66
3-point goals: Clarion 9 (Frederick 3, Hooks 3, Miller, Smail, Weber)’ Moniteau 2 (W. Cook, Kelly)
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