By LARRY MORITZ
Salina Journal
Head coach Francis Flax didn't find a time machine under his Christmas tree, so his Brown Mackie men's basketball team can't go back and play the first two months of the season over again.
The Lions plan to do the next best thing. When they took the court Thursday night at Banes Gymnasium for their first game after the holiday break, Flax and his players approached it as an entirely new season.
"We decided we were going to start over and keep stats and our record in 2008," Flax said after his team rallied for a 86-74 victory over McCook (Neb.) Community College. "We're going to forget about what happened the first semester.
"This game should give us a tremendous amount of confidence."
Depending how you look at it, the Lions are now 8-8 overall, or 1-0 in their new season. They played Thursday without three team members who failed to meet academic requirements, including leading scorer Earnest Noel (21.3 points per game), the team's only sophomore.
"This is a new beginning for us," said freshman reserve Denarius Darby. "Earnest was the leader or our team, but now we have to show everybody that just because we're freshman, we're still capable."
Brown Mackie appeared incapable of keeping pace with McCook (6-5) through the early portion of the second half. The Lions were getting beat on the boards, did not defend the 3-pointer well in their new 3-2 zone defense, and made only 4 of their first 15 free throws.
Down 49-34 with 14:30 remaining in the game, Brown Mackie outscored the Indians 36-10 over the next nine minutes.
That run started with a Jacob Jordan dunk off one of Bryson Flax's eight assists. Darby had three 3-pointers in that stretch, including one from the right wing to give the Lions the lead, 55-54.
"At halftime coach let us talk it out," Darby said. "We talked about the good things we did and what we didn't do. Free throws have been a big thing for us and our big men put it together."
After their horrid start at the line, the Lions made 21-of-25 free throws in the final 15 minutes. They outrebounded McCook 30-18 in the second half and at one point scored on 15-of-16 possessions.
"When we were down by 15, I thought we could hang with them, but I didn't know we could come back like we did," coach Flax said. "Once we got a spark, it was contagious."
Kenon Lamb led the Lions with 19 points, while Darby added 17, Jordan had 16 and Flax finished with 13.
Brown Mackie 62, McCook 49
With only five players suited up, the Lions couldn't count on any help from their bench. And when 5-11 freshman Whitney Holm picked up her fourth foul with nearly three minutes remaining in the first half, Brown Mackie was in danger of playing a lengthy stretch with only four players.
But Holm never did pick up a fifth foul and the Lions never did let McCook take control in the second half. Brown Mackie, which led 28-13 at halftime, improved to 8-7 with its first victory after the holiday break.
The Lions, who have only six players on the roster, were without freshman guard Monica Burgess, who should be back from her injury for Saturday's 2 p.m. game with Lamar.
Freshman guard Robbin Webber had 27 points, including a pair of 3-pointers in the final four minutes to keep McCook from making a late run. Holm finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds, while LaChelle Hyatt had 17 rebounds.