OXFORD — Turnovers were a big problem for the Talawanda High School boys’ basketball team this past season and coach Bobby Lipps said that will be an area of concentration leading up to next season.

While the Braves were pitted against a much stronger opponent in their sectional tournament game, their No. 32 seeding up against top-seeded Walnut Hills, Lipps said the 75-49 final score was largely a result of lopsided turnover totals.

Ball-handling was certainly not the only story of that loss, but it was enough of one to be a major emphasis for the next eight months. Talawanda had 31 turnovers against Walnut Hills Feb. 22, while the No. 1 seed had only 13.

“The tournament game was the best game we played so far. We gave them a pretty good game. We just turned the ball over too much,” Lipps said. “We’ve got to value the basketball. We had more wins last year and we averaged 28 turnovers a game (this year). You can’t win consistently when you do that.”

The Braves had 19 turnovers a game a year ago when they finished 7-14 (5-9 in the Fort Ancient Valley Conference) for the 2011-12 season. This year, their turnover totals went up and their wins dropped to 4-18 (4-10 Southwest Ohio Conference).

Lipps had high praise for the hard work his seven seniors contributed to the basketball team and said they will be missed as the Braves continue their effort to get better.

Closing out their Talawanda careers with that sectional tournament loss were seniors Tripp Webb, Nolan Robinson, Bobby Bennett, Joe Kuhn, Howie Smith, Austin Davidson and Colton Adams.

“The seniors were a bunch of great kids. I could not ask more of them. I told them they set the tone for us,” Lipps said, adding that several younger players were put into the end of the game against Walnut Hills and did not play hard. “I called timeout and told them not to disrespect (our seniors) with the way they play.”

He said those seven seniors have set the stage toward building the program he wants in the future.

Eliminating turnovers will be a big part of building that program, Lipps said. While their record this past season saw fewer wins than year before, the coach said games were closer and there was improvement. Late turnovers cost the Braves some games and it’s those games he wants to win next year.

“We had turnovers in critical situations late in games,” he said. “We would have the ball with a chance to score in a three-point game and turn it over. That would be a five or six point swing. Those are the things that lose games for you. I thought we were leaps and bounds ahead of last year. We were in every game. I could point to five or six possessions right there and there it goes.”

He points to final stats as a sign the Braves improved this past season. They were first in the SWOC in free throws and third in free-throw percentage.

“We were third or fourth in field goal percentage. Defensively, we were the third-best defensive team in the conference,” he said. “It comes down to valuing the basketball. We have to clean up our rebounds and turnovers and we will be fine.”

Lipps said he tries to look at his team positively and entered the past season thinking they could finish with 11 or 12 wins.

“That did not happen,” he said, but added he feels they are “on the cusp of that.”

He said he likes the eighth-grade group and the freshman group and sees a bright future. Freshman Steve Cunningham saw some varsity action this season as did sophomore Eric Mincy, both of whom he expects to play much larger varsity roles next season.

Of Mincy, the coach said, “I’m excited about where he has come from last year to this year.”

He sees a bright future for the Braves, but it will take a lot of work to get there.

“I hope, over the summer, we have a lot of kids in the gym. That’s how you get better as players. You get better as players in the summer. You get better as a team in the fall,” he said. “I hope they will get in the gym.”