Sports
Federal Hocking Off To Rough Start
By: Clark Wicks
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Although both Federal Hocking teams are struggling to pick up wins in 2016, slow improvements on both sides of the ball are providing glimmers of hope for the faithful Lancer fans.
The Lady Lancers lost 49-41 to Southern Monday night and then were dominated 56-18 by the defending state champion Waterford Wildcats three days later. The men’s team lost to Eastern 50-32 Tuesday night and play Miller Friday night.
With the toughest portion of their schedule out of the way, the Lady Lancers are looking forward to facing some competition they can consistently compete with. After their one-point win over a one-win Athens team to start the season, the Lady Lancers have gone win-less against their opponents who have a combined record of 34-5.
Despite the teams record, head coach Jeremy Tolson is proud of how his team has played and remains confident they will start winning more games soon.
“I thought we played really well with Southern, I don’t think we were overmatched by any stretch of the imagination,” Tolson said. “But playing against better teams only makes you better.”
With senior Destiny Tabler leading the team on both sides of the ball, the Lady Lancers have an offense that can score at will and a defense that forces opposing teams to settle for tougher shots. Tabler, the teams leading scorer, is a force on defense as well as she is able to rack up multiple steals and score off of those forced turnovers.
While Tabler has proved that she can force turnovers, the team as a whole must reduce the amount of turnovers they commit if they want to change their losing ways. Forced passes and a lack of communication on offense have resulted in costly turnovers for the Lady Lancers.
Perhaps facing South Gallia (1-3) and Trimble (1-3) next week, the Lady Lancers will be able to reduce their turnovers and regain some faith in their playing style. Simply picking up a few more wins can provide this experienced Federal Hocking team with the confidence boost they need to turn their season around.
“Once our schedule changes, its not gonna be as tough as it was at the beginning of the season,” Tolson said. “I really feel like its opening up now and then we can start to play some teams that we should, and can, compete with.”
The Federal Hocking men’s team will travel to Wahama on Tuesday as they try to put together some wins on the season.