PM East boys basketball has lost seven straight after a 6-0 start. What happened?
No team started as hot as Pocono Mountain East boys basketball.
Coming off a 4-18 season, the Cardinals won their first six games, five by double digits. Senior guard Taemas Jones was on a mission, scoring 40 points in the second game against Delaware Valley and making a case to be a conference All-Star and Monroe County Player of the Year as one of the area's leading scorers.
But the early season success has fizzled out, losing seven consecutive games since the middle of December, including their most recent a largest defeat, a 71-24 rout from rival Pocono Mountain West.
The Eastern Pennsylvania Conference was too good to think head coach Mark Dudley and Co. would go undefeated, but no one predicted such a losing streak after such a hot start.
"When we started hot, everyone said, 'Wow, look at Pocono Mountain East,'" Dudley said after a 71-54 loss to Nazareth. "I said there's a lot of basketball to be played; I said it even then. I wasn't too excited because I knew that other teams will be getting better, and when you start out hot like that, you're gonna get everybody's best.
"So we're seeing some of the other guys that are struggling to step up to the challenge."
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Though most of the roster played last year, this is still a young team. Jones and Anthony Burke are the only seniors in the rotation, and Dudley relies on juniors Stephon Bethea and Parker Scoz, along with sophomore Aiden Pierre, to be key contributors.
When asked about the team's recent skid, Jones pointed to the defensive end, saying, "You have two defenders running to the same guy, not talking on defense. That's our Achilles' heel right now, because offensively we're getting it done."
East was the highest-scoring team in the North Division during the winning streak, at 67.8 points per game, while only giving up 54.8. During the losing streak, the defense has given up 63.7.
However, the offense has taken a more significant step back, as the Cardinals have only scored 50 points per game during the losing streak, a near 18-point differential.
Jones has still scored in double figures every game this year, but what made East's offense so powerful is the likes of Pierre, Scoz and Bethea adding 8-15 points each. When those guys don't score, the offense becomes anemic, and the defense can't keep up.
All that said, the season is far from over. East's record is 6-7 with nine games left, and they need to win five more to guarantee a spot in the 5A District 11 playoffs. Jones is an all-area caliber player, and Scoz has shown himself to be a formidable big man when he's committed and playing to his potential.
"We're gonna keep fighting," Dudley said. "And you know what? I feel like if we start playing it good at the right time, we're going to be a scary team to see the playoffs."
East will play again on Friday against Emmaus, which sits atop the 6A District 11 power rankings, followed by East Stroudsburg North next Tuesday and Dieruff on Jan. 19.
This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: Pocono Mountain East boys basketball tries to solve seven-game skid
