Peoria Manual coach Wayne McClain had a candid explanation for his defending state champion Rams’ 72-59 loss to Young Saturday afternoon.
“It was a case of one team being better than the other,” he said. “Simple.”
Indeed, the Rams were dominated in every facet of the game, a situation unfamiliar to them. A year ago, Manual controlled almost every game it played, losing only once all season and finishing as the No. 1 team in the nation.
Rebounding was one of the team’s many strengths, thanks to 6-foot-9-inch Marcus Griffin and Sergio McClain.
McClain and Griffin are gone, and they were sorely missed Saturday. The Rams were outrebounded 22-19–by Young forward Quentin Richardson. Overall, Manual was outrebounded 36-19.
“When your center is 6-4, I don’t think you’re going to get too many rebounds,” said Manual star Frank Williams, referring to himself.
Though being the second-best team on the floor is new for the Rams, they handled it gamely. No longer loaded with size, they have become a scrappy, running team.
For Manual to win games like Saturday’s, they need to get into a full-court game and knock down their three-pointers, which is what the Rams did in the second quarter, when they cut Young’s lead to one. But they didn’t maintain that style.
“We have to make them run with us instead of playing at their pace,” Williams said.
Williams is the team’s best shooter, but pulling him outside to take three-pointers, as occurred Saturday, creates another problem: He can’t rebound from there. He grabbed just one offensive rebound all game.
“I have to carry these guys,” Williams said, and he can against most teams. But Young is too good to be beaten by one player.
“We have a lot of young ones on this team,” Williams said. “I have to get them ready for next year.”
Next year? Is Williams giving up on this season, on a chance at another state title?
No, he says, but he admits that beating Young would be an uphill climb.
His coach agrees. “We would have to have an absolutely perfect, perfect basketball game,” McClain said. “I don’t know if there has ever been one played.”
