By Rich Fisher, The Packet Group
PENNINGTON Pat Tarrant feels a new year should bring a new and simpler strategy for the Lawrence High boys’ basketball team.
”We have to get back to basics,” the coach said after the Cards suffered a 66-32 loss to Somerville in the first round of the John Molinelli Holiday Classic Tuesday. “I think before the season I was throwing too much at them. We have to go back to doing a couple of things we do pretty well, and keep building from that.”
The loss to the Pioneers left Lawrence 1-3 and loser’s of three straight entering Wednesday’s consolation game. The general feeling is that there is talent on the team, but it’s disjointed at the moment.
”We’re a talented group of people who just have to learn to play together,” said junior forward Bobby Brackett, a captain along with junior Chris Tate and senior Kalib Barksdsale. “We’re a good team but we have to learn how to play together.
”We see some good things but it’s just young and inconsistent. We’ll get better for sure.”
Tarrant agrees, but says that a certain fire is lacking and that seems to be holding the Cardinals back.
”First we have to learn how to compete and really get after it,” he said. “We play pretty good defense and we’re usually pretty tough to score on but they’re just going through us right now.
”We’re not slow and we’re kind of long and lanky, we’ve got some height, and our big guys can move. But no one is near playing hard enough.”
Against Somerville, the Cardinals trailed by 15 after one quarter. They appeared to have settled down and won the second quarter by a point, but Somerville pulled away after halftime as Tarrant felt they were emotionally out of the game.
”They have to learn it’s a long game,” he said. “They’re gonna play in some game where they’re down 15 at halftime and they’ll come back and earn a good win. But now, the heads go down. Once you experience that (comeback) your head never goes down.”
The coach is hoping the slow early start will help his team develop a bunker mentality.
”You get beat up a little bit, you feel down a little bit and you’re hoping they can walk away and understand that this is what we have to do to play better as a group,” Tarrant said. “Right now we’re individuals. Something like this can bring guys together, it can be a good thing.”

