ADAMS TOWNSHIP — Clinton-Massie fell 63-53 to Monroe at Brian P. Mudd Court on the second day of the new year in a nonconference matinee.
Blake Ireland led the Falcons (0-6) with 13 points. Teammate Kody Zantene wasn’t far behind with 12.
Monroe’s Marty Zumbiel led all scorers with 23 points.
“In order for us to start seeing some Ws, we have to start holding teams under 60 points,” CM head coach Steve Graves said. “We’ve got to start cleaning up the turnovers. Turnovers are killing us right now.
“I keep telling them they keep playing hard. We are playing extremely hard right now. It’s just unfortunate we can’t get the monkey off our back.”
The Falcons jumped out to a quick 4-0 start, but it was short-lived as Monroe (4-3) rattled off nine straight points.
The Hornets, which never trailed after that 9-0 spurt, led by as much as 18-10 in the opening period.
CM did rally to cut Monroe’s advantage to 22-20 midway through the second quarter. But again, Monroe responded with another 9-0 flurry, which sent the visitors to the intermission up 31-20.
“We had a lot of momentum, and then we turn it over and give up a three,” Graves said. “It’s just a backbreaker on some of those. Until we can execute in those situations, and get that confidence built up, we’re going to continue to struggle.”
Eleven was Monroe’s largest lead of the game; it also led by that margin at 44-33 a half minute before the end of the third quarter, 49-38 in the first minute of the final period and 59-48 with 70 seconds left in the game.
The closest Massie got to Monroe in the second half was 31-25 at the 5:38 mark of the third quarter and 54-48 with 1:52 left in the contest.
The Falcons return to action Tuesday with an SBAAC American Division tilt at home versus winless Goshen.
SUMMARY
Jan 2, 2021
@Clinton-Massie High School
Monroe 63 Clinton-Massie 53
M^18^13^13^19^^63
CM^12^8^15^18^^53
(63) MONROE (fg-ft-tp) DeBord 3-2-11, Deaton 7-1-15, J. Taylor 0-2-2, Mapp 1-1-3, Zumbiel 8-4-23, D. Taylor 0-0-0, Holler 0-0-0, Hitchcock 2-0-4, Ericson 1-3-5. Total 22-13-63. 3-point goals: 6 (Zumbiel 3, DeBord 3). FTM-FTA 13-19, 68 percent.
(53) CLINTON-MASSIE (fg-ft-tp) Zantene 4-2-12, Meyers 1-1-3, Ireland 6-1-13, Conrad 2-2-6, Redman 3-1-8, Euton 1-2-4, Stulz 0-0-0, Russell 3-1-7. Total 20-10-53. 3-point goals: 3 (Zantene 2, Redman). FTM-FTA 10-15, 67 percent.
