Sinclair Community College men’s basketball coach Jeff Price said back in the fall that he expected his young team to run into some roadblocks in the season. After defeating Cuyahoga Community College on the road, 65-53, the Tartan Pride are now 3-3 in conference play and 16-6 overall.
“We ran into some good teams,” Price said. “Cincinnati State [whom Sinclair lost to on Jan. 26] was ranked No. 1 earlier this year. Columbus was ranked, too. We managed to beat Lakeland at Lakeland, though.”
The Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC) can be strong, according to Price. In the last 10 years, the conference has produced one national champion and altogether 4 teams have appeared in the final.
“Historically, this conference has had success on a national level,” Price said.
The losses are a combination of both the youth of the team and that some opponents “have more athletes.”
“Why does Duke win every year? Because they have the best athletes. It can be that simple,” Price said.
Still, Price said he has a hard-working, “very coachable” team with no off-the-court issues.
“We do a lot of things pretty well, really,” Price said. “But these are the growing pains. Our guys are on-the-job learning.”
Not every loss has been easy to swallow. But, after being “upset” by Edison, Price said the team responded.
“They grew off that loss, made the right adjustments,” Price said.
The White Out Wednesday loss was a case where they ran into a team with better athletes, according to Price.
“They had a point guard that we just could not stop until it was too late,” Price said. “We made some adjustments, went to a zone and it worked, but by then we were down by too much. Sometimes you just run into a hot team and that happens.”
During those tough moments, Price can figure out how much his team has to give.
“You learn from a loss and push forward,” Price said. “We, as coaches, can push some buttons. You find out how much the guys have. I think we can be better. They already work really hard, and they are never satisfied. We can’t be satisfied.”
After a loss, Price wrote something on the white board before practice. It read: “Yesterday is history; today is opportunity; tomorrow is benefit.”
“We have to make deposits in the bank,” Price said. “Next game, hopefully we can make a withdraw and see the benefit.”