SPRINGDALE — One night ruined the idea of a stress-free break from basketball for Springdale Har-Ber coaches Eric Burnett and Sandy Wright. One painful evening — last Friday night — ensured their players would spend part of their 10-day layoff from competition somewhat detached from their family-and-friend time.
Humbling defeats can have that effect.
Jenks, Okla., came to Wildcat Arena late last week and dominated Har-Ber in all aspects — during both the boys and girls games. The Wildcats lost 58-27, the Lady Wildcats fell 59-38, and the mood of both squads afterward seemed quite somber.
“This certainly was not how we wanted to start our break,” Wright said, sighing after her girls dropped to 6-4 this season.
Burnett concurred, almost refusing to believe how flat the Wildcats looked against Jenks. In fact, Burnett benched his starting five for the last 12-plus minutes of Friday’s loss, hoping to motivate his top players.
The Wildcats’ sudden lack of faith and trust in their abilities completely mystified Burnett, who saw his team win two games at Bixby (Okla.) Invitational the week before.
“I’m not sure why we played with so little confidence,” Burnett said. “And the problem is, that can affect the whole team. If you don’t have any confidence in yourself, how do you expect others to have confidence in you? We have to get past this quick.
“It’s like I told the guys. We only have three games now until the real season is here.”
As Burnett alluded, both of Har-Ber’s teams open up 7A-West Conference play on Jan. 8 when Fort Smith Southside travels to Wildcat Arena. With time running out until the start of the conference season, the Jenks doubleheader served as a wake-up call of sorts for both squads.
Sure, each team has three nonconference games left — the girls at the Mansfield (Texas) Tournament and the boys at the Har-Ber Holiday Tournament. But those three contests can only answer so many questions.
The Wildcats and Lady Wildcats must use their first few practices between now and Jan. 8 to improve upon their weaknesses. They also should take spare time during this break — in between spending time with family, watching bowl games and hanging out with friends — to scrutinize their Jenks losses.
Wright, for her part, plans on doing plenty of self-reflection.
“We just have to learn from it,” Wright said. “Sometimes you have to get out of your comfort zone to make some changes, and we definitely did not play our style of basketball (against Jenks). We need to get back to playing our kind of basketball.”
Her hope? That losses sometimes can lead to better days.
RYAN MALASHOCK IS A NORTHWEST ARKANSAS NEWSPAPERS SPORTS WRITER. HIS COLUMN APPEARS EACH TUESDAY.