Bill Ackerman saw it coming. Sort of.
The West York boys basketball coach knew his team was fatigued. He noticed a lack of focus. He thought they might still be OK at New Oxford on Tuesday night. After the final buzzer sounded in the 73-68 Colonials victory, he realized how wrong he was
"Defensively, we have not done anything in practice the last two weeks to work on our defense because I was trying to save them," Ackerman said after Tuesday's defeat. "I was worried about legs and everything else. The problem is, I forgot the most important thing: We have to continually work on our defensive fundamentals.
"Guess what we're going to start doing tomorrow?"
It took the defeat to jog his memory. And if the five-point loss isn't enough to revive his players' focus, Ackerman's practice schedule might do it. It all came at the perfect time, just before the playoffs begin.
This looks like it could be a classic case of a loss proving more valuable than a victory, at least judging by Ackerman's explanation. But as much as the Bulldogs seemingly needed some sort of wake-up call, the Colonials may have had a deeper need for affirmation.
New Oxford came into the game 8-3 in Division I, but really had not come through with any significant victories. The Colonials lost to William Penn by 11, Red Lion by 19 and West York by 28. The most prominent league win came at home against Dallastown, and that was in the league opener in early December.
Tuesday's victory over the defending league tournament champion gave the Colonials a reason to believe that the way they are playing now, they can contend with the best.
"It showed we can compete," New Oxford coach Jim Zinn said of the victory. "A lot of times this year we played against better competition and almost put too much pressure on ourselves. We're a good team, but we wanted to win so much that we tried too hard. This time, we just said 'Let's settle down, let's do things right.' I thought we did a great job of that and that pretty much carried us to victory."
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