Western Boone Jr. - Sr. High School

CRAWFORDSVILLE - The Western Boone boys basketball team did a lot of the hard work on Friday night, getting themselves in good positions to score. But in what has been an unfortunate common theme for the Stars this year, they couldn't finish off their hard work. Western Boone went 0-for-10 from behind the arc and couldn't come back from a first-half deficit in a 52-45 loss to Crawfordsville. "We had really good movement and got any shot we wanted," Western Boone head coach Dustin Oakley said. "We were in attack mode and every shot was in the paint or a good look. We got to the free-throw line 29 times, which is awesome. We were getting the shots we wanted, just didn't hit them and that hurt us." The Stars missed four free throws in the first quarter, but still found themselves down just 12-7 after a quarter. But the Athenians scored the first six points of the second quarter to go up 18-7 and while the Stars got within 20-16 late in the quarter, the Athenians hit a 3-pointer right before the half to go into the locker room up seven. "We were right there, then they pulled away a little bit," Oakley said. "It is a lot like when we played them in the Sugar Creek, we would fight back, and just couldn't get over the hump. I am frustrated for our guys. They are really good kids and they are doing the right things. If we continue to do that I think we are going to get some wins here." Western Boone got the opening basket of the third quarter to get within five, but the Athenians used a 5-0 spurt to push the lead to double digits. Several times the Stars would get within seven or eight, but couldn't never get the stop they needed on the defensive end to rally back into the game. "I thought we played a really fluid game and executed well on both ends, but it just seemed like we always had an untimely miss, or they would get a key offensive rebound," Oakley said. "McCarthy hit 3 3s in the second half and he was their guy tonight He stepped in and hit some big shots." The Stars got as close as five in the fourth quarter, but were unable to get any closer. Marcus Fortner led the Stars with 20 points, with Tristyn Faulk and Quinn Westerfeld scoring nine each. "Marcus really changed his speed today, put his head down and got to the rim," Oakley said. "We got to the rim, shot faked, got them in the air and drew a lot of fouls. It seemed like we were in the bonus every quarter. Marcus is a good player. He is a quick and athletic. He had a tough weekend last weekend and we talked about it, and hopefully mentally he got past that. He produced and did his job tonight and a few other guys too. We are just missing a couple of pieces right now." The Stars saw their record fall to 2-15 on the year. They host Clinton Central on Saturday afternoon. "I want to see what we did tonight, just clean up a couple of things," Oakley said. "We're small, so we have to rebound a little better than we have been. We cut down turnovers tonight and that was a concern heading into the year. I think we are heading in the right direction, and we're trying to play our best basketball right now. These guys are so close, and I tell them that every game. They are right there and battle every night, it's just stinks with the end result." Will Willems is the Sports Editor of the Lebanon Reporter. Follow him on Twitter @Will_Willems.