Josiah Harris of the Labette Cardinals looks to make a post entry pass during Thursday’s win over Southwestern JV at Labette Community College.
Surviving a pair of dogged tests from JV opponents, the Labette Cardinals men won a pair of home games on Thursday and Friday.
Labette defeated Southwestern JV on Thursday, 8174, and Avila JV, 65-64.
The two wins improved Labette’s record to 6-6 overall.
“This stretch for us has been brutal,” Labette head coach Jason Hinson said. “We’ve had maybe three real practices this whole month. We drove over 30 hours. We played in Dallas and played North Lake, where we were down 31 points in the last 10 minutes and came back and won. Then we laid an egg the next day. (Against Southwestern), we started out slow but we came out with a win. We can’t just expect to win on any given night. We found a way.”
Against Southwestern on Thursday, Labette trailed by as much as eight in the first half before the Cardinals kicked into gear.
Christian Smith led the Cardinals with 17 points on 8-of-15 shooting. He added three steals to his night’s workload.
“He’s been big for us,” Hinson said. “He hit the game winner in Dallas for us. He’s stepped in and done a really good job. He hasn’t run a lot of point guard, so it’s an adjustment for him.”
Josiah Harris was the statstuffer for the Cardinals, scoring nine points, pulling down 10 rebounds and dishing out eight assists.
“He’s a difference maker,” Hinson said. “He goes so hard and he needs a break. His breaks kill us. Being the guy is hard, because you’ve got to be constant. He goes so hard and it drains him. But he can do it all for us. He’s a spark plug for us.”
Against Avila on Friday, Joshua Thornton led the Cardinals in scoring with 16 points on 8-of-13 shooting.
Harris added a dozen points with nine rebounds, while Zavier Philips chipped in eight points off the bench.
Labette’s offense, a point of shame a year ago, has improved this year as the Cardinals can more effectively score from all three levels. Their 44.6% shooting from the field through a dozen games ranks in the middle of the pack nationally.
“We’ve got some guys that can make plays,” Hinson said. “Our pace of play is up. We’ve seen some zone and we’re shooting well. Our guys can score against action they haven’t seen. But we’ve got to work on our defense. I’m not happy with that at all.”
As Labette enters the final stretch before winter break, getting healthy is a priority for Hinson.
“I’ll be happy when we get our full roster,” Hinson said. “We haven’t had it all year. This part of the year and our conference season are two different seasons. So we’ve got to get through this tide here and see where we’re at. But we’re competing and we haven’t seen that in the last couple of years.”
Up next
Labette faced Oklahoma Wesleyan JV on Monday then faces Ottawa JV on Dec. 3.
“We’ve got to find our identity,” Hinson said. “We’re adjusting on the fly. There’s work to do. We’ve got to get better defensively. And we want to get through this stretch healthy. A lot of these JVs are good teams that have varsity guys they’re bringing down.”
