MacArthur guard Sep Reese directs the offense against Eisenhower last Friday night.
Mac girls look to end skid The Mac girls are in an interesting predicament.
After opening the new year with a pair of victories at the Chickasha Classic, the Highlanders (7-4) find themselves on a two-game losing streak for the first time under new coach David Vann. In those losses to Class 6A No. 18 Yukon and 5A No. 1 Eisenhower, Mac lost by an average of 27.5 points per game.
The No. 6 Highlanders have also been held to their lowest point totals of the season — 36 and 37 — during the skid.
Vann said the loss to Ike hurts the most because his team played within three points of the Eagles in the squads' first meeting in December, only to fall by 26 points to the same team last week.
"I know Ike is No. 1 in the state, but we had a game plan and we just didn't execute," Vann said. "We have five games in front of us that I really think we can win, so I'm trying to get the girls ready for that and get us back to our winning ways."
Mac can do just that tonight when it hosts Duncan for the first home game of 2018. The Demons (3-10) are suffering through a losing streak of their own, having lost their past four games.
However, two of those defeats were to Guthrie and Noble, both of which are ranked in 5A, by a total of eight points. Duncan might be an improving squad, but Vann anticipates big things from his team moving forward.
"They know they cannot lose a game they can win," Vann said. "They're upbeat and in good spirits, so I'm hoping we'll have a breakout game — we haven't had one all season. What I mean is putting a team away by 20 and taking their confidence away early. We're confident, and I have a group of girls that's going to fight."
Mac boys set for rubber match with Duncan Mac and Duncan are no strangers to each other.
They have already played twice this season, splitting the contests which were both held on the Demons' home floor. The No. 10 Highlanders (7-4) lost the first meeting in an early-season thriller, 58-55, on Dec. 5, but they got their revenge only four days later with a convincing 67-45 victory in the Southern Oklahoma Invitational.
No. 16 Duncan (7-9) has lost eight of its past 12 games, but Mac coach Marco Gagliardi said he anticipates a competitive contest.
"I'm expecting it to be close," Gagliardi said. "With it being our first home game of the new year, I'm expecting us to have a crazy amount of energy. I'm hoping that'll translate on the defensive end in tips, steals and easy shots. If you have great energy and great effort, you usually make plays. We're hoping we can overwhelm them with our athleticism."
The Highlanders are coming off an excruciating 100-68 loss to No. 4 Ike in which they were outscored 37-11 in the fourth quarter. Although the players are still feeling the stings from that game, they are eager to get back on the court and atone for their mistakes.
Gagliardi said he doesn't think last Friday night's result will have any bearing on the way his team handles the Demons.
"I told them at practice that I saw a lot of positives from that game even though we did get beat by 30," Gagliardi said. "We played with, in my opinion, the best team in the state in our class for three quarters. I played four freshman in that Eisenhower game, and one of them played 30 minutes and another played 20 minutes. I'm expecting no hangover.
"We got a good measuring stick of where we're at. We need to keep working, but I expect us to be full-go with lots of energy and lots of effort on our home floor."