ALTAMONT – The Altoona-Midway Middle School traveled to Altamont on Monday, and the first road trip of the year was not a pleasant experience as the host Eagles rolled past the Jets 35-10 in Mineral Belt League action.
The loss evens the season record for AMMS at 1-1. The Jets are scheduled to return to the friendly confines of Milo Peterson Gymnasium on Thursday when they host Oswego. Tip-off is slated for 4 p.m.
“This was definitely a different game than last week (a 26-12 Jet victory over Chetopa), and we knew coming in it would be a challenge,” said AMMS head coach David Batzer. “I thought we defended well for most of the night, but we gave up too many offensive boards that turned into points. Turnovers were costly too, especially in the third quarter, when Altamont turned a competitive game into a rout with five fast-break buckets.”
Altamont led just 5-4 after the first period and 15-6 at halftime. But the Eagles exploded to 18 third-quarter points to go up 33-7 and end all mystery about the outcome.
“I knew we were going to struggle to score if we didn’t execute the offense better than we did against Chetopa,” Batzer said. “We’ve got to translate what we do in practice to what we do in games. The boys know the motion; they just need the game to slow down so they can run it with confidence. There were a lot of teachable moments tonight.”
Hunter Reaves and Thaddeus Tindle scored three points apiece for the Jets, while Jeffrey Nelson and Xavier Poeverlein each added a bucket. Tindle also pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds.
“Thaddeus continues to rebound and run the floor really well, and Hunter is really active defensively,” Batzer noted. “It was great to see Jeffrey get his first bucket of the year. He’s been working really hard.”
Dexter Poe poured in 19 points for Altamont.
After Thursday’s home tilt with Oswego, the Jets will play two more games next week to finish the pre-Christmas portion of their slate. AMMS will host Bartlett on Monday (Dec. 15) and travel to play Liberty Homeschool Alliance on Thursday (Dec. 18).