To Excelsior Springs varsity boys basketball coach Ian Burch, the Tigers’ 58-39 loss Feb. 6 to visiting St. Joseph Central was a reminder that the Tigers need to play at their own pace.Offensively, the key for the Tigers this season has been “to slow things down, let them develop and be able to see the floor,” Burch said. For the first quarter and part of the second quarter, they did that, he said.“Things really kind of started going downhill for us once we were getting sped up,” Burch said.By slowing the tempo the first quarter, Excelsior Springs responded to a 10-3 first-quarter deficit with a 9-3 spurt to knot it at 12 at quarter’s end.“We set the tone early, definitely, and we just ran with it,” junior guard Owen O’Dell said. “We proved that we can run with a team like that. And I think that that’s important.”Playing man-to-man defense helped Excelsior Springs run with St. Joe Central, a...