It’s fair to say that the Lancers hadn’t seen anything like Free State so far this season when the Firebirds hung 28 points on the board — and kept SM East’s potent offense from scoring at all.
And it’s a pretty good bet the team hadn’t felt so low after a game.
But Lancers’ head coach Chip Sherman said his team is refocused and excited to take the field tonight against 1-5 SM Northwest.
“It’s real simple,” Sherman said. “We’ve just got to get back to doing what we do to win.”
And with district play starting — and with it the road to the post-season — the Lancers have plenty of reason to get back to form. Their rivals in Kansas 6A District 2 are SM Northwest, 0-6 SM North and 5-1 SM West. SM East and SM West, who meet next week, are the heavy favorites to emerge from district play with playoff berths — but Sherman said the team needs to take it one game at a time.
“We’re starting districts, so it’s a whole new season,” he said. “The kids are excited to see what we can do and how far we can go. But we’ve got to stay focused. We’ve absolutely got to stay focused.”
The Lancers take on SM Northwest at 7 p.m. Friday at SM North Stadium.