Miscues continue to haunt Dawson roundballers

January 11, 2010

PEARLAND — To say that the upstart Dawson roundballers are led by one of the best young coaches in the Houston area would be an understatement. It would be even worse to indicate that the Eagles don't have the talent to be one of the top teams in District 24-4A.

But strong coaching, speed, and talent can only take a team so far against teams in a strong district.

Head coach Mark Barre has his two-year old varsity team on the right track with a strong defensive foundation that he learned from being under Pearland head coach Steve Buckelew for eight years.

Dawson has proven they can play with the best of the area teams, but the most glaring shortcoming so far is their inability to be consistent and avoid making game-changing mistakes that allow their opponents, not only back in the game, but a ticket to pull out a win.

No one can accuse the Eagles of not hustling and caring about the outcome of the game. But the mental mistakes and turnovers have cost Dawson their first three district games leaving them with an 0-3 mark with losses to Angleton, Friendswood, and Brazosport.

Dawson knocked off Angleton in the Alvin tournament and had the Wildcats on the ropes entering the final period in the district opener for both teams, but Angleton outscored the Eagles 14-3 down the stretch to pull out the win.

With a spirited and dominating first half, Dawson had Friendswood scrambling entering the third quarter, but the Eagles went cold in the fourth frame scoring only two points to fall to the Mustangs.

Barre was looking for his hardcourt warriors to pick up their first league win against Brazosport, but once again the final quarter would be the downfall for the Eagles.

Dawson began the opening eight minutes of the game with a strong offensive showing by outscoring the Exporters 11-2, but their hot shooting cooled down as Brazosport outscored the visitors 16-5 in the final four minutes of the first for an 18-16 lead.

The Eagles committed seven turnovers during that short span that allowed Brazosport to rally to take the lead.

Dawson continued their aggressive offensive effort outscoring the home Exporters 14-7 for a 30-25 halftime lead.

Brazosport battled back in the third period 15-12 to cut the lead to 42-40.

Once again, Dawson couldn't close the deal as Brazosport held the Eagles to only four points while struggling themselves with nine points for the 49-46 win.

A pair of free throws gave the Ships the lead for good, 48-46, with 2:43 remaining. After a miss by Dawson, Brazosport held the ball until 26 seconds were left when they fouled Corey Nelson who converted one of two from the line to make the score 49-46.

Dawson went for the last shot, but with 8.2 seconds remaining called a timeout. Anthony Miles, who scored 13 of his game-high 21 points in the first half, couldn't get off a decent shot as the ball bounced off the front of the rim as the buzzer sounded giving the Ships the win and a 2-1 league record.

Dawson hosted Texas City on Tuesday (late) and then will travel to face Santa Fe on Friday, January 15 at 7:30 p.m. The Eagles will go to Manvel on Tuesday, January 19 to face the Mavericks at 7:30 p.m.

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