THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Conway High School Athletics

ttitude reflects leadership. In what has been a trying season for the winless Roosevelt boys basketball team, which lost 57-51 to Yankton on Tuesday, the man being looked to for guidance is simultaneously navigating through his first year as a head coach. “It’s been a lot of ups-and-downs,” said Mitch Begeman, who was named head coach following last season. “My biggest thing is I want to keep these kids positive. We know we’re a very inexperienced basketball team, but our focus is on trying to keep getting better and continuing to compete every night and giving it everything we got.” The 29-year-old admits that it’s been tough trying to maintain a positive attitude through what has been an especially challenging debut season. But in talking to his players, it’s apparent that his attitude certainly has not gone unnoticed. “I have lunch with all the rest of the teammates and everybody stays positive, especially because coach sets the example in staying positive,” said junior Jimmy Lauer, who finished the night with a game-high 19 points. “All of us stay positive, because if one person is negative, then it kind of becomes contagious.” The Rough Riders have managed to keep their heads up through these trying times and Tuesday night, they saw potential signs of progress. 13 minutes in, Roosevelt looked like a different team. It was sharing the ball, knocking down shots and on the defensive end, containing Yankton star Matthew Mors, who came in averaging well over 20 points per game. The home team’s efforts were paying off and resulted in a 15-point lead with five minutes left in the first half. "Honestly, we haven’t shown that kind of start all year, so it was very fresh and new to us,” Begeman said. “Our guys came out fantastic… We just have not done that this year. It was really pleasant to see that happen.” But just as things were trending in the right direction for the Riders, momentum swung violently towards the other side. It was a vicious cycle. Shots started to fall for Yankton, allowing it to set up its full-court press. That backcourt pressure led to Roosevelt turnovers, which were then converted into points for the Bucks. By halftime, what was once a 15-point lead for the Rough Riders had dissipated to two at 23-21. “Our guys knew that if we saw a little pressure, we just had to be patient,” Begeman said. “Unfortunately we just got a little tense. Again, it’s just an experience thing and it’s the situation. We just haven’t done that yet and they caught us. Hats off to them.” The Bucks continued firing after the break, landing a few early haymakers to seize the lead. After quelling a Roosevelt surge midway through the third, they pushed their lead to 11 early in the fourth. Suddenly, the Riders were in danger of being blown out, territory that has become all too familiar for this bunch in 2016-17. #ArgusPreps Roundup: Jan. 31 But instead of folding, they started to claw their way back, remaining within striking distance through the majority of the fourth quarter, before a couple untimely turnovers and an unfortunate cold-streak allowed Yankton to regain control late in regulation. “I’ve been preaching to these guys all year: There’s going to be some times when we’re giving up baskets, but we have to be able to respond,” Begeman said. “I thought our guys did a tremendous job of that tonight, just unfortunately one too many turnovers.” Though the outcome of Tuesday’s game was the same as the 10 that preceded it, the Riders’ performance at least provided some tangible positives that they can build off of over their final nine games of the regular season. “These guys just believe in getting better,” Begeman said. “Hopefully we learn from this and we build from this game tonight because we did a lot of good things. Our confidence should be through the roof. We know we can get better.” “None of us have really experienced something like this before,” Lauer said. “But we’re starting to learn how to dig out of it. I think we’re starting to get it together.”

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Conway High School Athletics

WINLESS RIDERS STAYING POSITIVE

BRIAN HAENCHEN

Argus Leader | 1/31/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Roosevelt High School Athletics