Indians lose homecoming game against Chelsea

By: 
Mickey Alvarado

Tom Mammel scored 13 points to lead Tecumseh's offense. Photo by Mickey Alvarado.

Winter homecoming festivities were dampened on Friday evening at Tecumseh High School with the Indians’ varsity boys basketball team falling 55-38 in Southeastern Conference action against visiting Chelsea.
 
The Bulldogs scored the first bucket and led the entire game. 
 
The Indians had several opportunities to tie the contest or take the lead, having pulled within two points twice in the first quarter (7-5 and 10-8) before Chelsea pulled away. The Bulldogs went into the second quarter leading 14-8.
 
“We played okay, it was a solid defensive game but offensively we didn’t do our part as a team,” said Tecumseh coach Jamie Mossburg.
 
Tecumseh senior Max Benedict tagged the first basket in the second quarter to pull the Indians within four points but Chelsea’s Alex Vasquez answered right back to make it a 16-10 game. 
 
Benedict cut two points from the Bulldogs’ lead with one from the field but Chelsea hit two more buckets and held a 20-12 lead with 4:02 left in the first half.
 
After a time out, Tecumseh’s Jordan Patterson hit a two-point netter that made it a six point, 20-14, game, but the Bulldogs’ Ethan French struck again from the three point line to take a 23-14 advantage. Tecumseh coach Mossburg called a 30 second time out and when the Indians returned to the court, Chelsea’s Ryan Mitchell stole the ball from Patterson and dumped it into the basket for a 25-14 lead.
 
The Indians turned the ball over on their following possession with a pass going out of bounds and Chelsea quickly struck the net again for a 27-14 lead with 1:25 left in the half.
“The defensive effort was fine, the effort was good,” said Mossburg. “The real kicker was we needed to value the basketball and limit our turnovers.” 
 
Tom Mammel added Tecumseh’s final basket of the first half and the Bulldogs added another two points with a netter from the field to finish the second quarter leading 29-16.
 
Tecumseh scored just eight points in both the first and second quarters and did the same after eight minutes of play in the third quarter. The third quarter was the only quarter that Chelsea scored less than double digits. The Bulldogs added eight points in the third quarter to head into the final frame leading 37-24.
 
Tecumseh was outscored 18-14 to finish the game.
 
The Bulldogs scored a majority of their points from inside the paint, hitting just three three-pointers to the Indians’ five.
 
Mammel hit one of the three-pointers while totaling 13 points to lead the Indians’ offense. Dylan Smith hit a pair of three-pointers to total six points for Tecumseh while Kevin Sheets hit one while contributing eight points.
 
The Indians went to the bench for players throughout the contest and Mossburg was pleased with the effort given from them.
 
“Our role players are doing a real good job,” he said. “They have been working hard all year. When they do get in they work hard, they execute and fly around doing the things they should be doing.”
 
 Tecumseh fell to 5-12 overall and 0-7 in the SEC with the loss.
 
“We’re still playing okay heading into districts. We’ve won two of our last four. They’ve been solid wins but we need to be able to finish when the games are tight.”
 
Smith also had three assists and four rebounds while Mammel added eight rebounds. 
 
Tecumseh traveled to Manchester and won 44-38 in its previous non-conference contest on Tuesday, Feb. 16.
 
Smith had his best game of the season with 27 points to lead the Indians to the win.
 
Tecumseh finished the first quarter leading 10-7 but was outscored 14-12 in the second quarter to close the first half up by just one point at 22-21.
 
“It was relatively close most of the game,” said Mossburg. “It got close in the fourth quarter but Dylan [Smith] hit some big free throws there in the end to help close the game out.”
Smith was six-for-six at the charity stripe in the final quarter and also had two three-pointers in the fourth quarter to help seal the victory. He also had two steals.
 
Mammel totaled six points, three assists, 11 rebounds and three steals while Sam Benschoter added three rebounds and two points. “Those two have been doing a good job of controlling the boards almost the entire year,” said Mossburg.
 
Patterson finished with five points and two steals.
 
Tecumseh has just three more games before playing in districts at Columbia Central.
 
“Our seniors have been solid. In order for us to perform well here in the end the seniors need to perform well the next four games,” said Mossburg.
 
Tecumseh plays at Adrian on Friday and finishes out the regular season at home against Ypsilanti on Tuesday, March 1, and Lincoln on Friday, March 3.
 
Tecumseh will face the winner of the Columbia Central versus Onsted district game on Wednesday, March 9, at Columbia Central.

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Tecumseh Herald

 

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