ZEIGLER - The Zeigler-Royalton boys' high school varsity basketball team returned to action after the Thanksgiving break with a home rematch last Friday against Webber Township, the Tornadoes' opening-round opponent at the Christopher Turkey Tournament.
The outcome was a 70-39 loss.
"Webber is a very talented and hardworking team," said Z-R head coach Matt Morgan. "I was pleased with our effort. We did a much better job on the offensive and defensive glass than in our first matchup, which was an emphasis that we talked about."
One of the areas where Z-R struggled was converting their shots from the field and from the free-throw line.
"We finished 9-21 in the paint and many of those misses were buckets that we should have put in the hole and we just rushed or missed point blank," Morgan said. "It was another step forward for us. We were also better defensively, especially in transition compared to the first game.
"Getting our kids to understand bad shots and turnovers transition to easy buckets for our opponents is something we will continue to hit on."
Senior Cole Sanders led the Z-R scoring with 11 points followed by freshman Trevor Mills with nine.
Freshman Gannon Dollins added five rebounds to the effort.
The Tornadoes will host Vienna Friday.
"We come back with two tough games (Goreville was Tuesday) and then an extended break, which we will use to clean up some of the early-season bad habits that we have," Morgan said.
