Nevada boys literally come up short against Warrensburg

By Joe Warren

Nevada Daily Mail

When your tallest player is 6-3, you are going to have problems matching up with a player that is 6-7.

That is what happened Saturday when the Nevada Tigers visited Warrensburg. Nevada coach John McNeley was given the daunting task of trying to find a way to stop a guy who had at least four inches on any player he could put on the floor.

Making matters worse, Eric Atkinson usually plays the post for the Tigers, and he goes all of 6-1.

Nevertheless, not having a magic potion to give his players an extra few inches in height, the Tigers were forced to pay the consequences of not having a big body on the roster.

Warrensburg's large post scored 22 points and made his presence felt in the middle on the defensive end as the Tigers fell 53-44.

"They're kind of a tough matchup for us, McNeley said in an understatement. "We played hard but still shot 13 of 41."

That translates into a shooting percentage of 32 percent. A big reason Nevada shot so poorly was that when the Tigers would drive, the big post was there to make the Tiger players alter their shots.

"Things weren't coming easily for us offensively," McNeley said. "The 6-7 kid had a lot to do with that."

Nevada fell to 5-4 with the loss. The Tigers are back on the court today when they travel south to take on the Webb City Cardinals.

Webb City is 4-6 this season, but McNeley does not take them lightly.

"It depends on what night you get them on," McNeley said. "How (senior guard Brayden) Drake goes, they go. He's always just torn us apart.

"Defensively we're going to do a couple things out of the ordinary to try and get the ball out of his hands."

McNeley said that there is hope for a Nevada victory.

"When McDonald County beat them that said that we can do alright if we play well," McNeley said.

The game will be the conference opener for Nevada.