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The Hounds played lights-out defense in the first half Thursday night, but couldn’t buy a bucket.
When their offense picked up in the second half, their defense let them down at critical times.
Maryville's inability to sync up both ends of the floor cost them in a frustrating 43-39 loss to East Buchanan at MHS Gymnasium.
The Hounds doubled their scoring output in the second half from 13 to 26, but also gave up 28 points after holding the Bulldogs to 11 in the first half and two in the second quarter.
East Buchanan turned a seven-point deficit into a five-point lead with the help of five second half three's and held off the suddenly red-hot Hounds in the final minute with six straight free throws.
"We can't finish right now," said Maryville head boys basketball coach Mike Kuwitzky. "We've got to grow to learn to play a good game of offense and defense. When we did get ahead a little bit, we gave up some shots. Our defense faltered. So then we pick up our defense and we couldn't score for a while."
It was that kind of night for the Hounds (8-10) who lost their third straight.
Maryville started the game 0-13 from the field and scored only three first quarter points, but held East Buchanan to two in the second quarter and went to the half leading 13-11.
The Hounds hit four of their first five shots in the third quarter and looked to be pulling away when Tyler Walter collected his fourth steal and took it in for an easy layup and a 23-16 lead.
But the Bulldogs, who had scored only seven points since the first quarter, were revived by the first of three second half three-pointers by Ryan Stallard.
His second one made it 25-22 and the Bulldogs cut it to one entering the fourth.
Stallard's third three tied it at 29 with 6:31 left and Brandon McNeeley's first of the half gave the Bulldogs a 32-29 lead.
Cory Bower, who finished with 23 points and had all eight of East Buchanan's two point baskets, got a steal and slam to put the Bulldogs up 34-29 with 4:22 left.
That prompted a timeout from Kuwitzky.
The Hounds took more than a minute to get off a shot on their next possession, but it worked out as Walter hit a contested three over two defenders to make it 34-32. It was Maryville's first made three of the game.
The Hounds played lights-out defense in the first half Thursday night, but couldn’t buy a bucket.
When their offense picked up in the second half, their defense let them down at critical times.
Maryville's inability to sync up both ends of the floor cost them in a frustrating 43-39 loss to East Buchanan at MHS Gymnasium.
The Hounds doubled their scoring output in the second half from 13 to 26, but also gave up 28 points after holding the Bulldogs to 11 in the first half and two in the second quarter.
East Buchanan turned a seven-point deficit into a five-point lead with the help of five second half three's and held off the suddenly red-hot Hounds in the final minute with six straight free throws.
"We can't finish right now," said Maryville head boys basketball coach Mike Kuwitzky. "We've got to grow to learn to play a good game of offense and defense. When we did get ahead a little bit, we gave up some shots. Our defense faltered. So then we pick up our defense and we couldn't score for a while."
It was that kind of night for the Hounds (8-10) who lost their third straight.
Maryville started the game 0-13 from the field and scored only three first quarter points, but held East Buchanan to two in the second quarter and went to the half leading 13-11.
The Hounds hit four of their first five shots in the third quarter and looked to be pulling away when Tyler Walter collected his fourth steal and took it in for an easy layup and a 23-16 lead.
But the Bulldogs, who had scored only seven points since the first quarter, were revived by the first of three second half three-pointers by Ryan Stallard.
His second one made it 25-22 and the Bulldogs cut it to one entering the fourth.
Stallard's third three tied it at 29 with 6:31 left and Brandon McNeeley's first of the half gave the Bulldogs a 32-29 lead.
Cory Bower, who finished with 23 points and had all eight of East Buchanan's two point baskets, got a steal and slam to put the Bulldogs up 34-29 with 4:22 left.
That prompted a timeout from Kuwitzky.
The Hounds took more than a minute to get off a shot on their next possession, but it worked out as Walter hit a contested three over two defenders to make it 34-32. It was Maryville's first made three of the game.
Maryville got the ball back with a chance to tie, but Eric Martin missed a short hook shot in the lane.
At the other end, McNeeley sank a dagger from the corner to put the Bulldogs back up five.
Maryville lost a point at the 1:51 mark when Walter was whistled for a lane violation on a missed free throw.
Walter then committed a turnover after the Bulldogs missed their second one-and-one of the quarter.
Bower made two free throws with 46 seconds left to put the Bulldogs up 39-33.
Treyton Burch cut it to three with a three-pointer, and the Hounds fouled Cazes Johnson right away.
After missing the front end of a one-and-one earlier, he made both attempts to put the Bulldogs up 41-36.
Jonathan Baker made another three to bring the Hounds within two, 41-39.
Bower stepped to the line with nine seconds left, and with the crowd stomping its feet, made both free throws for a four-point lead.
"He handles pressure situations pretty well," said East Buchanan head coach Kevin Jermain. "I always have 100 percent confidence in him. That's why he's the player he is."
The Bulldogs made four of five shots in the fourth quarter and were 8-13 from the field in the second half.
Maryville finished 15-51 from the field.
"We just missed a lot of shots we should've hit," said Kuwitzky. "We didn't have a very good three-point percentage, but we missed a lot of crips. The irony is last night we worked on shooting for a good 30-40 minutes."
Maryville's points were concentrated among Walter, Baker, Burch and Martin.
Burch led the Hounds with 10 points. Baker had nine, Martin eight and Walter seven.
