Pirates remain unbeaten in conference play

The streak continues for Hannibal.

The Hannibal High School Pirates basketball team won their third straight game on Friday, defeating Moberly 65-53. It was also its ninth straight conference victory for the Pirates, who are a perfect 9-0 against conference rivals this season.

Hannibal has now swept Moberly on the season, with the previous contest being scored 53-47 in favor of Hannibal on Dec. 13.

The contest took place during Moberly’s homecoming. Hannibal Head Coach Matt Pugh said the Pirates did a good job of fighting through a hot crowd.

“I thought we did a nice job of kind of weathering the storm at the beginning and we knew our start would be key,” Pugh said. “I thought our start and our ability to play even and a bit ahead there at the beginning of the game was really important in tonight’s outcome. As I have been saying, conference road wins are hard to come by. We’re appreciative and are happy to get out of there with another one.”

Pugh said the Pirates are appreciating the change of scenery.

With an overall record of 18-5 — with only two losses outside of the Neosho Holiday Classic — things are looking different for the Pirates.

“We talk about enjoying the process because it wasn’t long ago when we were on the flip side of this thing, when we were 3-23, 10-14, so I think it’s key to maximize this last week before district play,” Pugh said. “We talked a lot tonight after the game that this has been a challenge for this group as they have grown up, it’s their ability to finish. Whether that be a quarter, play, half or game, now we’re in the driver seat a little bit and now we have to finish this next week to take control of the conference and win the conference.”

The coach added, “I think they are really taking that to heart and approaching it the right way.”

Hannibal was 14-11 in the 2010-11 season with an 8-4 conference record, 10-16 with a 5-7 conference record in the 2009-10 season and 3-23 with a 2-10 conference record in the 2008-09 season.

Pugh said that the change in record has turned the Pirates from a David into a Goliath.

“The big thing that we have to understand and I think our guys are getting now at this point in the season, is that we’re everybody’s big game,” Pugh said. “When we come to a gym, we are the biggest game of the year for them. We are undefeated in the conference and we have that target on our back now. That’s been an adjustment for us and our guys. They know that they can’t slip up and you’re always 32 minutes away from a rough loss that you have to bounce back from.”

He’d rather have that than the converse, though.

“We have gone from the hunter to the hunted,” Pugh said. “Obviously I would take that versus the flip side because we have been hunting for a long time. You want to keep approaching things day by day, quarter by quarter, half by half and break things down into the process and worry about what is going on in the moment. If you can focus on living in the moment and playing in the moment, the outcome will usually favor you if you have the ability to do that.”

Pugh said the Pirates had some stiff competition from Moberly and that any time a team can get a victory off of Moberly Head Coach Mark Anderson they are fortunate.

Paving the way to victory, according to the coach, was Hannibal’s ability to work as a team.

“It was a nice team win,” Pugh said. “We overcame some adversity early in the game where we didn’t shoot it very well. We were able to stick with it and not freak out and panic and stick with our game plan and what we talked about. Their ability to kind of weather that out and keep grinding was huge.”

He mentioned the play of Christian Williams and the guards as decisive points as well.

Leading the way in scoring for the Pirates was Williams who scored 18 points.

Four players were in double-digits on the night as Mike Shivers (12), Jay Jones (12) and Dalton Powell (11) helped contribute to the offense.

Logan Hicks contributed seven points in the win and Connor Brown added five.

The junior varsity team also played on the night, falling a bit short of Mexico 49-37.

Eric Hugenberg led the scoring with 13 points, Jeff Damon contributed eight points, ‘Lijah Harrison had seven points, Nate Voss and Austin Haynes both had three points, and Mitch Nichols and Gus Meyer both had two points.

Coach Craig Altheide said the JV players struggled offensively.

“We started out doing relatively well shooting the ball and just went cold and never regained our shooting touch,” Altheide said. “Offensively we struggled significantly, but in the second half we played a lot better defensively. Moberly came out and played very well offensively and we were unable to recover from that. Solid defensive game in the second half but offensively we struggled the entire night.”

Altheide said in the next contest for Hannibal, he would like to see his players have better shot selection, and that if the players can find their offensive touch some of their confidence should come back.

The next contest for Hannibal is another big one, as at about 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 7 at Korf Gymnasium, the Pirates have their second meeting with Mexico.
Not counting Friday night, Mexico is 17-3 on the year with a 6-1 conference record.

Pugh said this contest would be significant.

“Up to this point their only loss in conference was to us and that game was close,” Pugh said. “It was a huge, high emotional game and it’s always close between us. Mexico is always playing us tough. We understand it is going to be a battle and going to be a war. We’re going to have to play really well and have a couple of days of good preparation. You can’t over-emphasize the importance of not only this game but each and every one leading into district play. From a conference championship on the line to your seeding in district play as well is important because you now have the ability to make your road a little more favorable. That’s what we’re looking for there.”