Sports - January 2004

Mustangs geared up for 2004 season

Published January 7, 2004

East Lincoln basketball comes off strong show in Classic

By JOHN MARK BROOKS, Staff Writer

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It wasn’t an abysmal start to the season for the East Lincoln Mustangs, but it was far from stellar.

The Mustangs started out 2-3 in 2003. However, things are starting to turn around for 2004. The Mustangs are fresh off the heels of a strong showing in the First Charter Holiday Classic where they finished third.

Acting Mustangs coach Chip Ashley was happy with their showing and believes it shows progress.

“It was definitely one of our goals to finish better than we did last year. We did achieve that by finishing third. We’ve taken a step in the right direction,” he said.

East Lincoln has one very simple goal in mind. Ashley explained they want to peak at the right time.

“I thought our Christmas was very helpful for us. What we want to do is to be playing our best basketball by February,” he said.

Ashley, although seeing improvement, is no where close to satisfied, believing they ‘aren’t quite where we want to be yet.’

An Achilles’ heel for the Mustangs this season has been field goal percentage. However, the coach and his team saw a drastic difference in their Christmas tournament.

“One of our really big concerns has been our shooting. We had two games in the tournament where we shot over 50 percent as a team,” Ashley said.

Ashley believes that the Mustangs’ execution, not only, got better during the tournament but in practice too.

“I think offensively we’re executing much better than even a week ago. I think the team is getting a better understanding of what we want to do,” he said.

The coach believes the biggest reason for their improved play of late has been getting quality play from a few role players.

“During the tournament we basically got contributions from eight people. In order for us to win everybody is going to have to contribute,” Ashley said.

East Lincoln will host the North Gaston Wildcats on Friday which will be their second home game of the week. Because of the two home contests Ashley and the other coaches emphasized how key this week was.

“We’re excited. We’re going into the heart of our conference schedule and we’ve talked about how important it is to have a good week this week since we have two home games,” Ashley said.

© 2001 Lincoln Times-News  

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