BOYS BASKETBALL

Vikings’ season ends in Memphis

The Jackson Sun

MEMPHIS – Ron Abernathy finished up his first season as the head boys’ basketball coach at Humboldt High, and he couldn’t have been much more proud of his team after their season ended with a 60-31 loss at Mitchell on Tuesday.

“We came into the season hearing about how much we lost off last year’s team and this and that, and I wasn’t sure what we’d be able to do coming in,” Abernathy said. “But we just got to work and practiced hard and worked on playing smart.

“These guys came together to build a competitive team that finished the regular season 21-9 and played for the district and region championships. That’s not a bad season if you ask me.”

That season came to a halt as the Vikings lost to the 2014 state champion program from Mitchell.

While Mitchell is a team with a lot of ability and athleticism, Abernathy said it was poor shooting that kept the Vikings from competing better with Mitchell.

“We didn’t hit our shots consistently all night, and when you don’t hit your shots, you can’t stay in a ballgame long,” Abernathy said. “When you fall behind, you can’t mount a comeback without hitting a few shots without them hitting any.

“We couldn’t get into that kind of rhythm at all tonight.”

It was the fifth straight year for the Vikings to make it to the sectional round of the postseason, which is a round short of the state tournament in Murfreesboro.

The Vikings lose three seniors, all of whom started. But Abernathy said he feels good about what the team has coming back to build around for next year.

“We’ve got a couple of starters and our sixth man coming back to build around, and we’ve got a lot of sophomores coming up to be juniors that can help out hopefully,” Abernathy said. “We’ll give them a week off then get back to work trying to build a strong foundation for this program going into next year.

“These seniors leaving are leaving a big gap to fill in for, and I appreciate what they’ve meant to this team this year.”