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Wednesday marks the beginning of the postseason for the boys of Hannibal.
The Hannibal High School boys basketball team kicks off district play at 6 p.m. today, Feb. 22, against Marshall.
Marshall earned its spot in the match by winning the Class 4 District 8 opening contest on Feb. 20 over Kirksville by a score of 52-50.
Hannibal Head Coach Matt Pugh said his team is ready to get to work.
“We had this long layoff and you can tell the guys are ready to play a game,” Pugh said. “We’re getting a little tired of practice I think.”
Marshall is a team that Hannibal has beatdn twice on the season by scores of 56-50 (Feb. 11) and 75-54 (Jan. 14).
Pugh said the Pirates will approach the game a bit different than it has in previous games with Marshall.
“We looked at some things and will try to tweak a few things that we don’t like that we could have done better with,” Pugh said. “Especially the last time out, I felt like Marshall did a nice job of making some adjustments on their end and we have to take what we can from it and try to get ourselves prepared the best way we can.”
The coach added that it doesn’t matter who the team plays in the districts, because the task at hand remains the same:
Make it out of districts and focus on your own game.
“We know that we have to handle business tomorrow night to put ourselves in a situation and give ourselves an opportunity to attain another one of our goals, to get a district championship,” Pugh said. “We fully understand that if we don’t play up to our capabilities tomorrow night, all that is a bunch of talk and that’s our focus, to take one game at a time, one quarter at a time. If we can do that and worry about the process, the outcome will take care of itself.”
Hannibal has been on a roll lately with six straight wins, with the last loss coming by a score of 68-59 on Jan. 24 against Helias.
The loss against Helias has been the only loss in the year of 2012 for the Pirates, with three of the Hannibal’s total of five losses coming during the Neosho Holiday Classic, which took place the week of Christmas.
Hannibal’s record was 21-5 on the season with a 12-0 record in conference.
Wednesday marks the beginning of the postseason for the boys of Hannibal.
The Hannibal High School boys basketball team kicks off district play at 6 p.m. today, Feb. 22, against Marshall.
Marshall earned its spot in the match by winning the Class 4 District 8 opening contest on Feb. 20 over Kirksville by a score of 52-50.
Hannibal Head Coach Matt Pugh said his team is ready to get to work.
“We had this long layoff and you can tell the guys are ready to play a game,” Pugh said. “We’re getting a little tired of practice I think.”
Marshall is a team that Hannibal has beatdn twice on the season by scores of 56-50 (Feb. 11) and 75-54 (Jan. 14).
Pugh said the Pirates will approach the game a bit different than it has in previous games with Marshall.
“We looked at some things and will try to tweak a few things that we don’t like that we could have done better with,” Pugh said. “Especially the last time out, I felt like Marshall did a nice job of making some adjustments on their end and we have to take what we can from it and try to get ourselves prepared the best way we can.”
The coach added that it doesn’t matter who the team plays in the districts, because the task at hand remains the same:
Make it out of districts and focus on your own game.
“We know that we have to handle business tomorrow night to put ourselves in a situation and give ourselves an opportunity to attain another one of our goals, to get a district championship,” Pugh said. “We fully understand that if we don’t play up to our capabilities tomorrow night, all that is a bunch of talk and that’s our focus, to take one game at a time, one quarter at a time. If we can do that and worry about the process, the outcome will take care of itself.”
Hannibal has been on a roll lately with six straight wins, with the last loss coming by a score of 68-59 on Jan. 24 against Helias.
The loss against Helias has been the only loss in the year of 2012 for the Pirates, with three of the Hannibal’s total of five losses coming during the Neosho Holiday Classic, which took place the week of Christmas.
Hannibal’s record was 21-5 on the season with a 12-0 record in conference.
Pugh said the team feels the same amount of pressure it normally would going into districts and that the group will play essentially one minute at a time.
“There’s always pressure, especially this time of year and there is no way to really create that atmosphere other than just being in it,” Pugh said. “I don’t think the guys really feel pressure because of going 12-0, there is a bit of pressure in knowing that they are the No. 1 seed and are expected to win, but at the same time we know we have to approach this game like any other game and play 32 minutes like every other 32 minutes.”
The most important thing for Hannibal, which tips off against Marshall at 6 p.m. today, Feb. 22, against Marshall in Mexico, Mo, might be this:
The team simply wants to get on the court.
“I would say over the past couple days you could feel an anxiousness, the guys seem a little on edge a bit, which is good,” Pugh said. “I think they are ready to go and tomorrow will seem like a long day for them up until game time. They are chomping at the bit and ready to go.”
