After a tough one against Calumet Monday on their home court, the Patriots (HSRC, not Calumet) righted the ship on Thursday against Southside Baptist. Turnovers, fouls, and a Calumet streak in the third quarter led to the 65-50 loss to Calumet, while ferocious defense turned things around for the team as the beat the Torchman on our home court, 53-29.
The guys knew that Calumet would be tough, having watched them come in second their own tournament. And since we had defeated CCS at our place earlier in the season, 70-68 in overtime, Calumet would be looking to even things up. HSRC took the early lead behind Seth who opened the scoring with a basket, two free throws and three to contribute to a 9-5 lead. Calumet made a three which Josh matched with a three point play. However Calumet closed the scoring in the quarter with another three and a two to take a one-point lead into the second. Nate and Josh put us back up by four. From there it was back and forth. Seth hit a three to give HSRC a one-point lead, but again CCS closed with a flurry, scoring the last five and taking 29-25 lead into the half.
The deficit grew to seven early, but after a Kyle basket it was 35-32. That was the last time it was close. Three threes in a row followed by a foul on a made basket and the ensuing free throw ballooned the lead to fifteen. After a Seth basket, Calumet make another three point play after the fifth foul was called on Seth, which, like his fourth that happend on the play before, was apparently because he was on the same side of the court as the shooter. The quarter ended with CCS leading 52-38. CCS scored first and the boy's couldn't get any closer than thirteen. They did play even with a man down in the quarter but that was one of the few positives in the game. Because of the turnovers and the fact that the rebounding wasn't as dominant as usual, Calumet took over twenty more shots than did our Patriots. The other significant statistical difference was that Calumet made nine threes to our three.
Josh and Seth were the leading scorers with seventeen and fifteen, respectively. Kyle also had fourteen rebounds. Kyle led with four assists while Lucas had four steals.
On Thursday the Patriots faced another opponent looking to even the score for the season, the Southside Torchmen. HSRC defeated the Torchman on their own home court early in season by four, in a game which was quite even throughout. The Torchman flickered early, falling behind 7-0 on baskets aby Kyle, Seth (a three) and Lucas. The slow-paced first quarter ended with the Patriots ahead 11-4. HSRC extended the lead to ten at 18-8 before Southside went on a run. They got as close as four, but Josh scored just before halftime to make it 23-17 going into the break.
If the Torchman had any ideas about making it a game, the Patriots quickly squashed them. They scored the first nine points of the quarter and Southside got no closer than thirteen in the quarter. HSRC then scored the last seven in the quarter to make it 41-21 at the end of the quarter. The defensive intensity continued into the early part of the fourth quarter. Southside only scored on a three in the first half of the quarter, while the Patriots scored nine, giving them the biggest lead of the game, twenty-six. Southside scored a little at the end but got no closer than the final twenty-four point final difference. Kyle won scoring honors with seventeen, while Josh had sixteen and Seth thirteen. Lucas had ten rebounds, Josh nine and Kyle had seven. Lucas and Seth each had four assists and Nate had three. Lucas also led with four steals, with Josh, Seth and Kyle adding three each. The team had eleven turnovers, quite a contrast to the twenty-six they committed on Monday.
The junior high team had another two tough games. The familiar story repeated itself both Monday and Thursday, with the boys playing hard, the shots not going down, and the opponent being much larger than our team. The boys played their hearts out on Monday, but as mentioned, other than Caleb Y. working down low, the shots would not fall. As usual, the defense was good, but the offense didn't get going until the second half. By that time the deficit was nine, and the boys ended up losing by fourteen, 33-19. Caleb Y. had a big game, scoring fifteen and pulling down fourteen rebounds. Against Southside, the size discrepancy was even more glaring, as Southside has several ninth-graders on their squad (Calumet has at least one). The lead was 13-5 after one quarter. We couldn't get the ball to go down in the second, with Caleb getting knocked around inside by their big players and our outside players not hitting their shots. The boys could only get two points total in the second and third quarters and trailed by twenty going into the fourth. We nearly doubled our score in the fourth, scoring six, including a basket by Mark. The final was 33-13. Caleb scored all the other points besides Mark's basket and nabbed nine rebounds.
Luther East is the varsity's opponent on Monday night. That game will be played at St. John Lutheran in Lansing. On Friday and Saturday the varsity will be participating in the Kankakee Trinity Academy tournament, with the first game against the host team on Friday at 8:30. The junior high does not have any games this week, but will have a practice on Thursday.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Late recap
A short recap of last weekend's tournaments games:
First up on Friday was Heritage Chrisitian, a team so strong that last year we played their JV and lost. Heritage had already played and won their first game and looked pretty good doing it, though probably not as good as they looked last year. The guys played well defensively, but couldn't put the ball in the hole. Heritage pushed the lead out gradually, leading by five at the end of the first quarter, eleven at half, sixteen after three and 24 at the closing horn, 53-29. The boys shot only 21% for the game, 11 of 51, and only two of fifteen from three. Josh had eleven rebounds, Lucas has six steals, Nate led with three assists and Seth was the top scorer with eleven.
Portage was the opponent in our first game in the losers' bracket. We had lost to them by twelve early in the season. Portage was coming off of a loss to KTA in the first round. In this one, our defensive effort was again very good, and the offense picked up as well. The Patriots led by six at halftime after a big second quarter, overcoming a three-point deficit after the first quarter. Portage cut that lead in half by the end of the third quarter, cutting HSRC's lead to 35-32. The Patriots fell behind 38-37 after a Portage run, but answered that with six straight points, four from Josh. About this time, though, Nate fouled out. Portage outscored the Patriots 8-3 to close the quarter, their last three on a three from #2 with about three seconds left. Without Nate, it was tough for us in the fourth and Portage played with renewed energy. Portage jumped out in front early in the overtime period, but the Patriots tied it up at 51 on a three-point play from Lucas. Portage scored the next six, four on free throws. After a Lucas free throw and a Seth three, it was a two point game. Portage split two free throws, giving the Patriots the ball with a few seconds left, but Lucas three attempt went off the rim, and we were in the consolation game against Victory. Lucas and Josh each had 20 points Josh also had thirteen rebounds and Kyle had six assists.
We again played great defense in the consolation game, at least in the first half. We trailed 21-15 at halftime. We lost our shooting touch again, and this game we also weren't hitting our free throws. After shooting 19 for 27 from the line in the first two games and hitting our first two in this one, we missed nine straight. And then in the second half, Victory's star transfer student started hitting long, off balance threes. There really wasn't much we could do about that. He was seven for eleven from three in the second half, and he also hit a lot of short jumpers. He scored 24 in the third, all of his team's points, and 17 in the fourth. Overall he was 16 for 23 in the half. And the crazy thing is, we didn't play bad defense. When a guy like that is on, there isn't much a team can do. Of course our poor shooting didn't help. Seth led our guys in scoring with sixteen and Josh had thirteen rebounds.
We finally get back on the court again tomorrow against Calumet at their home court at Lincoln Center in Highland, IN - junior high at 4:30 and varsity following. Thursday is a home game against Southside - same game times. See you there.
First up on Friday was Heritage Chrisitian, a team so strong that last year we played their JV and lost. Heritage had already played and won their first game and looked pretty good doing it, though probably not as good as they looked last year. The guys played well defensively, but couldn't put the ball in the hole. Heritage pushed the lead out gradually, leading by five at the end of the first quarter, eleven at half, sixteen after three and 24 at the closing horn, 53-29. The boys shot only 21% for the game, 11 of 51, and only two of fifteen from three. Josh had eleven rebounds, Lucas has six steals, Nate led with three assists and Seth was the top scorer with eleven.
Portage was the opponent in our first game in the losers' bracket. We had lost to them by twelve early in the season. Portage was coming off of a loss to KTA in the first round. In this one, our defensive effort was again very good, and the offense picked up as well. The Patriots led by six at halftime after a big second quarter, overcoming a three-point deficit after the first quarter. Portage cut that lead in half by the end of the third quarter, cutting HSRC's lead to 35-32. The Patriots fell behind 38-37 after a Portage run, but answered that with six straight points, four from Josh. About this time, though, Nate fouled out. Portage outscored the Patriots 8-3 to close the quarter, their last three on a three from #2 with about three seconds left. Without Nate, it was tough for us in the fourth and Portage played with renewed energy. Portage jumped out in front early in the overtime period, but the Patriots tied it up at 51 on a three-point play from Lucas. Portage scored the next six, four on free throws. After a Lucas free throw and a Seth three, it was a two point game. Portage split two free throws, giving the Patriots the ball with a few seconds left, but Lucas three attempt went off the rim, and we were in the consolation game against Victory. Lucas and Josh each had 20 points Josh also had thirteen rebounds and Kyle had six assists.
We again played great defense in the consolation game, at least in the first half. We trailed 21-15 at halftime. We lost our shooting touch again, and this game we also weren't hitting our free throws. After shooting 19 for 27 from the line in the first two games and hitting our first two in this one, we missed nine straight. And then in the second half, Victory's star transfer student started hitting long, off balance threes. There really wasn't much we could do about that. He was seven for eleven from three in the second half, and he also hit a lot of short jumpers. He scored 24 in the third, all of his team's points, and 17 in the fourth. Overall he was 16 for 23 in the half. And the crazy thing is, we didn't play bad defense. When a guy like that is on, there isn't much a team can do. Of course our poor shooting didn't help. Seth led our guys in scoring with sixteen and Josh had thirteen rebounds.
We finally get back on the court again tomorrow against Calumet at their home court at Lincoln Center in Highland, IN - junior high at 4:30 and varsity following. Thursday is a home game against Southside - same game times. See you there.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Cold start
The Patriots opened up the Calumet tournament with a loss last night, 53-29 to the Heritage Defenders, sort of the host school. By sort of, I mean it was played at Heritage but the tournament is hosted by Calumet. Heritage is tough enough, but a combination of extremely cold shooting by the Patriots, tough defense by Heritage, Jacob Zylstra, and home court advantage made them seemingly invincible in the contest.
At first it looked like both defenses would dominate, as mid-way through the quarter it was 4-2, Heritage. Seth pulled HSRC to within on when he split two free throws, but Heritage scored six straight before Kyle scored. Heritage split two of their own free throws before the quarter ended to give them a six-point lead going into the second. After Josh scored inside, Heritage scored a couple of basket. Josh split two free throws, then following a Heritage three, scored inside again. Heritage hit another three before halftime to make it 21-10 game entering the break. At this point HSRC had hit only four of thirty from the field - 13.3%.
It looked like things might turn around in the second half as Seth hit his first shot, a three, to open the scoring. Heritage, however, answered with their own three. Set scored again, but Heritage continued to squash whatever hope we had, this time by answering with a three, then another, then the consecutive baskets to open a 21-point lead. HSRC managed to get back to withing seventeen before quarter end. The guys really couldn't anything going, never getting closer than fifteen in the quarter. Heritage made a fluury of threes, while all we could manage after Seth brought us to withing fifteen was two free throws by Lucas and basket by Nate. I will have the stats when I summarize the tournament in a later post.
At first it looked like both defenses would dominate, as mid-way through the quarter it was 4-2, Heritage. Seth pulled HSRC to within on when he split two free throws, but Heritage scored six straight before Kyle scored. Heritage split two of their own free throws before the quarter ended to give them a six-point lead going into the second. After Josh scored inside, Heritage scored a couple of basket. Josh split two free throws, then following a Heritage three, scored inside again. Heritage hit another three before halftime to make it 21-10 game entering the break. At this point HSRC had hit only four of thirty from the field - 13.3%.
It looked like things might turn around in the second half as Seth hit his first shot, a three, to open the scoring. Heritage, however, answered with their own three. Set scored again, but Heritage continued to squash whatever hope we had, this time by answering with a three, then another, then the consecutive baskets to open a 21-point lead. HSRC managed to get back to withing seventeen before quarter end. The guys really couldn't anything going, never getting closer than fifteen in the quarter. Heritage made a fluury of threes, while all we could manage after Seth brought us to withing fifteen was two free throws by Lucas and basket by Nate. I will have the stats when I summarize the tournament in a later post.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Double digit wins
The guys had a relatively easy time of it Tuesday, leading throughout our fourth home game of the season and pulling away to a 63-39 victory over the visiting Christian Haven Eagles. It was nice to see some more family and friends attending our second game at Crete Elementary. We have three more home games, all at Crete Elementary, this year - come on out and support the Patriots if you can.
Seth and Kyle set the tone early in the game, each making their first three point attempts. The scoring for HSRC in the quarter was very balanced. Seth had six (scoring a three, a two and a one - that to complete an old-fashioned three point play); Nate, Kyle and Josh each had three; and Lucas had two. The defense was strong at half court - the Patriots forced a lot of turnovers in the quarter - but not as strong as they could have been after CH got through the trapping. CH shot five for nine in the quarter and scored eleven. Ball movement picked up in the second quarter, with the team, especially Nate, regularly finding the open man inside. Josh and Kyle each scored six in the quarter, with Seth, Lucas and Nate each adding two. The defense recovered better in the quarter, holding CH to 27% shooting on three for eleven, while the trapping defense continued to force turnovers. At half the Patriots led 35-18.
The third quarter was a little more wide open. As has been the team's pattern, they scored the most points, twenty, in the third. HSRC was very effective working the ball inside in the quarter. Josh was perfect from the field, making five of five, and from the line, making both of his free throws. Kyle added four, and Nate and Seth each had a basket. CH found the range from three, though, and were able to put fourteen on the board, but the Patriots still had their biggest lead of the game to that point at the end of the quarter, 55-32. Coach Boss played his bench players much of the fourth, and also called off the pressing defense. HSRC only took ten shots in the quarter, making four. The change in defense seemed to rattle CH, as they made only three of fifteen shots, including one-for-eight from three. While the offense relaxed a little, the defense worked hard in the half-court to keep the opposition under forty, their goal for each game.
Josh led in scoring with 23, shooting 10-for-18 from the field and making three of four free throws. He also had rebounding honors with fourteen and added five steals. Kyle had fifteen points and eight rebounds, as well as the highlight of the night, when he blocked a shot by basically grabbing it out of the shooter's hand as he shot. Lucas had six points, five steals and three assists. Nate chipped in seven while leading the team in assists with five and adding three steals. Seth scored twelve, but his main accomplishment was helping to slow down #23, who scored 16 against us the last time we played. This time he only scored seven. Seth also had three steasl and two assists.
No practice tonight because of the snow (c'mon, we're midwesterners - this little bit of snow shouldn't stopped us - but I digress), so we go directly to the opening game of the tournament tomorrow. We open against Granger tomorrow at 6:00. Reminder - the tournament has been moved to Heritage Christian High in Dyer, 10790 Calumet. Granger is 4-9 on the season, but they have played some good teams tough. There really aren't any weak teams in this tournament, so the guys will have to bring their "A" game if they hope to win it. It makes me smile to write that sentence. It's just so unreal to even consider winning this tournament, considering what our chances were last year.
If anyone wants to see how our conference looks, here is a link to the Maxpreps page for it: http://www.maxpreps.com/league/aRNnhYpv-U69LyuTg-Ws1Q/standings-south-shore-christian.htm. Standings, individual team stats and upcoming games involving conference teams can be found here. Our teams' page is: http://www.maxpreps.com/high-schools/homeschool-resource-center-patriots-(monee,il)/basketball/home.htm. You can see all of stats, schedule, etc. here.
We are currently 10-3, 5-1 in the conference. We are 2-1 against western division teams (3-1 if you include our tournament victory over Families of Faith), which include Portage Christian, Calumet Christian, Luther East, Families of Faith Academy, and us. Christian Haven was originally in our division, that is why we have two games against them. Quite a contrast to last years. And it certainly a team effort. It's remarkable how we have three or four players in each stat category about at the same level.
Seth and Kyle set the tone early in the game, each making their first three point attempts. The scoring for HSRC in the quarter was very balanced. Seth had six (scoring a three, a two and a one - that to complete an old-fashioned three point play); Nate, Kyle and Josh each had three; and Lucas had two. The defense was strong at half court - the Patriots forced a lot of turnovers in the quarter - but not as strong as they could have been after CH got through the trapping. CH shot five for nine in the quarter and scored eleven. Ball movement picked up in the second quarter, with the team, especially Nate, regularly finding the open man inside. Josh and Kyle each scored six in the quarter, with Seth, Lucas and Nate each adding two. The defense recovered better in the quarter, holding CH to 27% shooting on three for eleven, while the trapping defense continued to force turnovers. At half the Patriots led 35-18.
The third quarter was a little more wide open. As has been the team's pattern, they scored the most points, twenty, in the third. HSRC was very effective working the ball inside in the quarter. Josh was perfect from the field, making five of five, and from the line, making both of his free throws. Kyle added four, and Nate and Seth each had a basket. CH found the range from three, though, and were able to put fourteen on the board, but the Patriots still had their biggest lead of the game to that point at the end of the quarter, 55-32. Coach Boss played his bench players much of the fourth, and also called off the pressing defense. HSRC only took ten shots in the quarter, making four. The change in defense seemed to rattle CH, as they made only three of fifteen shots, including one-for-eight from three. While the offense relaxed a little, the defense worked hard in the half-court to keep the opposition under forty, their goal for each game.
Josh led in scoring with 23, shooting 10-for-18 from the field and making three of four free throws. He also had rebounding honors with fourteen and added five steals. Kyle had fifteen points and eight rebounds, as well as the highlight of the night, when he blocked a shot by basically grabbing it out of the shooter's hand as he shot. Lucas had six points, five steals and three assists. Nate chipped in seven while leading the team in assists with five and adding three steals. Seth scored twelve, but his main accomplishment was helping to slow down #23, who scored 16 against us the last time we played. This time he only scored seven. Seth also had three steasl and two assists.
No practice tonight because of the snow (c'mon, we're midwesterners - this little bit of snow shouldn't stopped us - but I digress), so we go directly to the opening game of the tournament tomorrow. We open against Granger tomorrow at 6:00. Reminder - the tournament has been moved to Heritage Christian High in Dyer, 10790 Calumet. Granger is 4-9 on the season, but they have played some good teams tough. There really aren't any weak teams in this tournament, so the guys will have to bring their "A" game if they hope to win it. It makes me smile to write that sentence. It's just so unreal to even consider winning this tournament, considering what our chances were last year.
If anyone wants to see how our conference looks, here is a link to the Maxpreps page for it: http://www.maxpreps.com/league/aRNnhYpv-U69LyuTg-Ws1Q/standings-south-shore-christian.htm. Standings, individual team stats and upcoming games involving conference teams can be found here. Our teams' page is: http://www.maxpreps.com/high-schools/homeschool-resource-center-patriots-(monee,il)/basketball/home.htm. You can see all of stats, schedule, etc. here.
We are currently 10-3, 5-1 in the conference. We are 2-1 against western division teams (3-1 if you include our tournament victory over Families of Faith), which include Portage Christian, Calumet Christian, Luther East, Families of Faith Academy, and us. Christian Haven was originally in our division, that is why we have two games against them. Quite a contrast to last years. And it certainly a team effort. It's remarkable how we have three or four players in each stat category about at the same level.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Ugly but effective
It wasn't really pretty, but Coach Boss thought it looked pretty good, at least until Grace's 10-4 run at the end of the game. The result was the right one, with the Patriots defeating Grace Baptist at their place Friday 41-24.
It was the tightest-called high school game that I can recall, and of course with our small roster it is much more difficult for us to handle. Sure enough, before the first quarter was over, Josh and Nate had two fouls each. Despite that, our defense was still effective. They held the Crusaders to two-for-eleven shooting. The Patriots weren't much better. Josh made two-of-three, but the rest of the team made only one out of nine. Scoring picked up in the second. HSRC found the range from three, making three in the quarter. The game remained tight early. Grace scored to open the quarter to tie it. HSRC's first three put them back in the lead, which Grace cut into with a pair of free throws. The Patriots scored inside on a couple of baskets to push the lead out to five Grace scored again on a field goal. It was at this point that the Patriots started to put some distance between them and Grace. A three followed by a couple of inside baskets, the second by Kyle made it a ten-point game. Grace scored on a free throw to break the streak, but Peter answered with a three (to the great delight of the crowd). He was playing because of foul trouble, as Lucas, Nate and Josh each picked up their third fouls before halftime. That was the last score of the half and the Patriots went to the locker room with a 23-11 lead.
Kyle opened the scoring in the half. Grace matched his basket but Josh was fouled and made two free throws. Seth followed that with two free throws of his own. (Those were four of the five free throws attempted by HSRC for the game; Grace went to the line fifteen times.) Grace then followed with free throw, but Seth and Josh each scored from the field to close out the third-quarter scoring. HSRC pushed out the lead to 23 early in the fourth. Nate scored followed by a basket from Josh on a nice pass from Seth. With a 37-14 lead, the guys got a little sloppy. Grace scored twice before Nate scored again. Two more Grace scores followed. Lucas got the last HSRC points on a put-back. Grace scored once more but that was it.
Josh led in scoring with fourteen, helped by his height advantage. Kyle had eight, Seth seven, Lucas five, Nate four and Peter had three. Josh also led in rebounding with eleven, with Kyle adding nine and Nate pulling down eight. Seth had a nice passing game, totaling six assists. Kyle and Josh both had three steals.
The Patriots are now 9-3 on the year. Their next game is a conference game, Tuesday at our home court at Crete Elementary against Christian Haven. On Friday at 6PM, the boys will play Granger Christian in their opening game of the Calumet Tournament,. The tournament venue has changed to Heritage Christian High in Dyer.
The junior high continued to struggle, losing both of their games last week. On Thursday we played the Crestwood Cavalry. They also use Hidden Cove for their home court, so we traveled the familiar road down their, but had to remember to sit on the visitor bench this time. Crestwood's varsity has always played strong defense, and the junior high kept up the tradition. It also helped they were, as all of our opponents are, much talled that our team. We couldn't get the ball inside and our outside shots wouldn't fall. At halftime we were down 17-0. After halftime, we were able to get the ball inside a little, and Caleb was able to get to the line. He scored two while the defense, which had difficulty getting back in the first half, improved greatly and held Crestwood to two as well. Caleb kept it up in the fourth, scoring seven more and Charles added a basket. Crestwood got hot shooting in the fourth and were able to score ten including two threes, so the final was 29-11.
On Friday we faced Grace, another team quite a bit bigger than ours. They also had a couple of very good players. We were able to neutralize their inside game, but they were very hot from the outside. This time were able to score - well Caleb, anyway - in the first half, but Grace slowly increased the lead throughout the half. In the second half, #15 from Grace took over from #25, who had ten points in the first half. #15 scored six of their eight in the quarter, while we went completely cold and got shut out. Henry heated up in the fourth, and he and Caleb each scored four. The boys played good defense, holding Grace to two, but again it was too little, too late and the Patriots went down, 32-17.
Caleb scored thirteen and Henry had four. Caleb also had eight rebounds and four steals.
The junior high boys play tomorrow at 4:15 at Glenwood School (yes, Glenwood again). Glenwood didn't get a team together until late, so they were looking for games. That is why we are playing them three times. No games after that for a while, but we do have practice on Thursday.
It was the tightest-called high school game that I can recall, and of course with our small roster it is much more difficult for us to handle. Sure enough, before the first quarter was over, Josh and Nate had two fouls each. Despite that, our defense was still effective. They held the Crusaders to two-for-eleven shooting. The Patriots weren't much better. Josh made two-of-three, but the rest of the team made only one out of nine. Scoring picked up in the second. HSRC found the range from three, making three in the quarter. The game remained tight early. Grace scored to open the quarter to tie it. HSRC's first three put them back in the lead, which Grace cut into with a pair of free throws. The Patriots scored inside on a couple of baskets to push the lead out to five Grace scored again on a field goal. It was at this point that the Patriots started to put some distance between them and Grace. A three followed by a couple of inside baskets, the second by Kyle made it a ten-point game. Grace scored on a free throw to break the streak, but Peter answered with a three (to the great delight of the crowd). He was playing because of foul trouble, as Lucas, Nate and Josh each picked up their third fouls before halftime. That was the last score of the half and the Patriots went to the locker room with a 23-11 lead.
Kyle opened the scoring in the half. Grace matched his basket but Josh was fouled and made two free throws. Seth followed that with two free throws of his own. (Those were four of the five free throws attempted by HSRC for the game; Grace went to the line fifteen times.) Grace then followed with free throw, but Seth and Josh each scored from the field to close out the third-quarter scoring. HSRC pushed out the lead to 23 early in the fourth. Nate scored followed by a basket from Josh on a nice pass from Seth. With a 37-14 lead, the guys got a little sloppy. Grace scored twice before Nate scored again. Two more Grace scores followed. Lucas got the last HSRC points on a put-back. Grace scored once more but that was it.
Josh led in scoring with fourteen, helped by his height advantage. Kyle had eight, Seth seven, Lucas five, Nate four and Peter had three. Josh also led in rebounding with eleven, with Kyle adding nine and Nate pulling down eight. Seth had a nice passing game, totaling six assists. Kyle and Josh both had three steals.
The Patriots are now 9-3 on the year. Their next game is a conference game, Tuesday at our home court at Crete Elementary against Christian Haven. On Friday at 6PM, the boys will play Granger Christian in their opening game of the Calumet Tournament,. The tournament venue has changed to Heritage Christian High in Dyer.
The junior high continued to struggle, losing both of their games last week. On Thursday we played the Crestwood Cavalry. They also use Hidden Cove for their home court, so we traveled the familiar road down their, but had to remember to sit on the visitor bench this time. Crestwood's varsity has always played strong defense, and the junior high kept up the tradition. It also helped they were, as all of our opponents are, much talled that our team. We couldn't get the ball inside and our outside shots wouldn't fall. At halftime we were down 17-0. After halftime, we were able to get the ball inside a little, and Caleb was able to get to the line. He scored two while the defense, which had difficulty getting back in the first half, improved greatly and held Crestwood to two as well. Caleb kept it up in the fourth, scoring seven more and Charles added a basket. Crestwood got hot shooting in the fourth and were able to score ten including two threes, so the final was 29-11.
On Friday we faced Grace, another team quite a bit bigger than ours. They also had a couple of very good players. We were able to neutralize their inside game, but they were very hot from the outside. This time were able to score - well Caleb, anyway - in the first half, but Grace slowly increased the lead throughout the half. In the second half, #15 from Grace took over from #25, who had ten points in the first half. #15 scored six of their eight in the quarter, while we went completely cold and got shut out. Henry heated up in the fourth, and he and Caleb each scored four. The boys played good defense, holding Grace to two, but again it was too little, too late and the Patriots went down, 32-17.
Caleb scored thirteen and Henry had four. Caleb also had eight rebounds and four steals.
The junior high boys play tomorrow at 4:15 at Glenwood School (yes, Glenwood again). Glenwood didn't get a team together until late, so they were looking for games. That is why we are playing them three times. No games after that for a while, but we do have practice on Thursday.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Late game heroics again
The Patriots followed their usual pattern Monday night, falling behind early, then finishing strong as they defeated the Families of Faith Christian Academy Screaming Eagles, 55-42. This time the rally didn't start until the fourth quarter. The Patriots led only by two entering the last period, but a fourteen point run in the quarter clinched it for the Patriots.
In the prelude, the junior high team went down to defeat again, this time by the score of 32-15. Again the story was not enough size, not enough shooting. We knew Caleb was going to be in for a long night when we saw one of their starters was also in their varsity rotation. He was an inch or two taller than Caleb, but probably outweighed him by forty pounds. Between that and the fact that FOFCA kept up a full court press most of the game, the Patriots had a long night. At first we had some success at beating the press, and our half-court defense was solid as usual. However, Caleb was being smothered in the post by their big man, and we managed only three, all by Caleb Y, in the quarter. The guys kept FOFCA somewhat in check, giving up only six, but four were from the free throw line by their center due to two fouls on Caleb. He eased up a little in the second, and their big man got free for six, while #8 also scored six. Caleb Y. matched his output with three, but again that was all our scoring, and we trailed 18-6 at half.
Our shooting completely abandoned us in the third quarter. We took ten shots and none went in. Caleb Y. was suffering a little from the effects of a bloody nose, so he sat for a short time. On the other end of the court, the guys continued to play good defense, and held FOFCA to six so the lead was eighteen going into the fourth. Caleb Y really got going in the quarter, scoring seven and Charles added a bucket on a fast break. FOFCA continued their steady pace on offense, pouring in eight, so while we "won" the quarter, it was too little too late.
Caleb Y. led the team with thirteen of the fifteen points. Charles scored the other two. Caleb also blocked two shots and added two steals.
Back to the varsity. These two teams faced each other in the opening game at the Victory tournament, and HSRC had little trouble with them, opening up a 22 point lead by the end of the third quarter and cruising to a fifteen point win. However, we heard that they had defeated Victory, who had a full squad that night, and figured they were improved and were going to come in with a lot of confidence. And that was the case. After Lucas opened the scoring, their 6'7" center popped in a three. Lucas matched it to put HSRC up two, but FOFCA tied it right back up. After Kyle scored to tie it at seven, FOFCA scored five in a row, including another three by their big #5. The teams traded baskets until the end of the quarter, with FOFCA still holding a five-point lead, 16-11. Seth had the hot hand to open the second, scoring the first five of the quarter to tie it up. Josh then got free inside to put the Patriots ahead. Two more baskets by Seth stretched the lead to six and HSRC had the ball, but FOFCA scored on a turnover. Seth made it twelve for him for the quarter with a three to give HSRC its biggest lead of the game at 25-18, but FOFCA scored the last four of the quarter on a put-back and a jumper to make it a three-point game at half.
Lucas and Seth scored to open the second half, and it looked like another big third quarter for the Patriots. #5 had something to say about that, scoring the next six points. FOFCA added a free throw to tie it up. Seth put us back on top, but #5 hit two free throws. Kyle then went to the line after being fouled on a shot attempt, and he made them both. #5 scored again off an offensive rebound, but Kyle made a field goal to put HSRC back up by two entering the fourth. HSRC came out strong again. Lucas and Nate opened with field goals, and after Seth split two free throws, the lead was back up to seven. Their point guard snuck inside for a layup. After an HSRC miss, #5 hit two more free throws to make it 40-37, but that was all the scoring for a while for FOFCA. Lucas had five (a three and a two), Kyle four, Nate three (basket and a free throw) and Seth two in the run. FOFCA finally got back on the board with two foul shots, and after a Seth free throw, hit a late three to finish the scoring.
Seth led the team in scoring, ending up with 21, twelve of those in the second quarter. Lucas added sixteen and Kyle ten. The S brothers both ended up with double-digit rebounds, Kyle hauling down thirteen and Josh eleven. Nate led defensively with eight steals and six blocks. Seth led the team in assists with six.
The boys are 8-3 heading into the break, winning more games before the holidays that the previous two seasons combined. They lead the conference with a 4-1 record, tied with Portage (who has the head-to-head advantage having defeated the Patriots, giving them their only loss in the conference). Interestingly, the three top teams in the west each have one loss - ours coming at the hands of Portage, who lost to Calumet, who lost to our guys. The conference race should be interesting right down to the wire.
No games now until Friday, January 6 at Grace Baptist in Kankakee. Our next home game is Tuesday, January 10 against Christian Haven. We will be hosting them at Crete Elementary. Hopefully we will have some sort of scoreboard at that one. Practices over the break will be Tuesday and Thursday, December 27 and 29 from 3:00 to 5:00 at the South Suburban Sports Complex, just off 394 in Crete. Both varsity and junior high will practice as we have two courts.
Merry Christmas, everyone!!
In the prelude, the junior high team went down to defeat again, this time by the score of 32-15. Again the story was not enough size, not enough shooting. We knew Caleb was going to be in for a long night when we saw one of their starters was also in their varsity rotation. He was an inch or two taller than Caleb, but probably outweighed him by forty pounds. Between that and the fact that FOFCA kept up a full court press most of the game, the Patriots had a long night. At first we had some success at beating the press, and our half-court defense was solid as usual. However, Caleb was being smothered in the post by their big man, and we managed only three, all by Caleb Y, in the quarter. The guys kept FOFCA somewhat in check, giving up only six, but four were from the free throw line by their center due to two fouls on Caleb. He eased up a little in the second, and their big man got free for six, while #8 also scored six. Caleb Y. matched his output with three, but again that was all our scoring, and we trailed 18-6 at half.
Our shooting completely abandoned us in the third quarter. We took ten shots and none went in. Caleb Y. was suffering a little from the effects of a bloody nose, so he sat for a short time. On the other end of the court, the guys continued to play good defense, and held FOFCA to six so the lead was eighteen going into the fourth. Caleb Y really got going in the quarter, scoring seven and Charles added a bucket on a fast break. FOFCA continued their steady pace on offense, pouring in eight, so while we "won" the quarter, it was too little too late.
Caleb Y. led the team with thirteen of the fifteen points. Charles scored the other two. Caleb also blocked two shots and added two steals.
Back to the varsity. These two teams faced each other in the opening game at the Victory tournament, and HSRC had little trouble with them, opening up a 22 point lead by the end of the third quarter and cruising to a fifteen point win. However, we heard that they had defeated Victory, who had a full squad that night, and figured they were improved and were going to come in with a lot of confidence. And that was the case. After Lucas opened the scoring, their 6'7" center popped in a three. Lucas matched it to put HSRC up two, but FOFCA tied it right back up. After Kyle scored to tie it at seven, FOFCA scored five in a row, including another three by their big #5. The teams traded baskets until the end of the quarter, with FOFCA still holding a five-point lead, 16-11. Seth had the hot hand to open the second, scoring the first five of the quarter to tie it up. Josh then got free inside to put the Patriots ahead. Two more baskets by Seth stretched the lead to six and HSRC had the ball, but FOFCA scored on a turnover. Seth made it twelve for him for the quarter with a three to give HSRC its biggest lead of the game at 25-18, but FOFCA scored the last four of the quarter on a put-back and a jumper to make it a three-point game at half.
Lucas and Seth scored to open the second half, and it looked like another big third quarter for the Patriots. #5 had something to say about that, scoring the next six points. FOFCA added a free throw to tie it up. Seth put us back on top, but #5 hit two free throws. Kyle then went to the line after being fouled on a shot attempt, and he made them both. #5 scored again off an offensive rebound, but Kyle made a field goal to put HSRC back up by two entering the fourth. HSRC came out strong again. Lucas and Nate opened with field goals, and after Seth split two free throws, the lead was back up to seven. Their point guard snuck inside for a layup. After an HSRC miss, #5 hit two more free throws to make it 40-37, but that was all the scoring for a while for FOFCA. Lucas had five (a three and a two), Kyle four, Nate three (basket and a free throw) and Seth two in the run. FOFCA finally got back on the board with two foul shots, and after a Seth free throw, hit a late three to finish the scoring.
Seth led the team in scoring, ending up with 21, twelve of those in the second quarter. Lucas added sixteen and Kyle ten. The S brothers both ended up with double-digit rebounds, Kyle hauling down thirteen and Josh eleven. Nate led defensively with eight steals and six blocks. Seth led the team in assists with six.
The boys are 8-3 heading into the break, winning more games before the holidays that the previous two seasons combined. They lead the conference with a 4-1 record, tied with Portage (who has the head-to-head advantage having defeated the Patriots, giving them their only loss in the conference). Interestingly, the three top teams in the west each have one loss - ours coming at the hands of Portage, who lost to Calumet, who lost to our guys. The conference race should be interesting right down to the wire.
No games now until Friday, January 6 at Grace Baptist in Kankakee. Our next home game is Tuesday, January 10 against Christian Haven. We will be hosting them at Crete Elementary. Hopefully we will have some sort of scoreboard at that one. Practices over the break will be Tuesday and Thursday, December 27 and 29 from 3:00 to 5:00 at the South Suburban Sports Complex, just off 394 in Crete. Both varsity and junior high will practice as we have two courts.
Merry Christmas, everyone!!
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Ugly win
The guys spent a lot of time preparing for the Victory team they faced a couple of weeks ago in the Victory tournament championship game. The team they played last night was not the same team. Victory's star guard did not play, and the guys looked like they didn't know quite what to do for stretches during the game, especially the second quarter, but eventually they figured it out, in time for a 49-41 victory in Valparaiso, improving their record to 7-3 and 3-1 in the conference.
I didn't get there until almost the end of the first quarter (thank you Friday night 80-94 traffic), and by that time the guys were up 12-4. Per the dad I was sitting with, the first quarter belonged to Kyle, who was driving and finishing, scoring all eight of his points in the quarter. VCA was limited to a three and a free throw to that point, and it looked like HSRC might cruise to the win. Not so fast. VCA's #2 came out strong to open the second, opening the scoring with a three followed a old-fashioned three - scoring on the the free throw when he was fouled while scoring. His teammates joined in the fun as VCA went on a ten-point run to take the lead at 14-12. On the offensive side, the Patriots couldn't find the basket from the outside, and Victory's interior defense was solid. Seth did finally stop the run. After a Lions free throw, Lucas finally found the basket to put the Patriots back on top. Nate followed this with a score, but that was all the scoring for the Patriots for the half. A Lions bucket pulled them to within one, then #2 popped in another three to put VCA back on top. A crazy off-balance three off an offensive rebound at the buzzer completed Victory's eight-point run to close the half and gave VCA its largest lead of the game, 23-18.
VCA opened the scoring in the second half with a basket, but the inside game showed a little life here. Nate got fouled and made one of two free throws, and Josh scored to pull the Patriots to within four, but VCA quickly answered with two more scores. Lucas, as he as done before this season, asserted himself after halftime. He followed a three with a two-pointer to cut the lead to three. Victory scored two more baskets sandwiched around a Seth free throw to make it a six point game, but Seth made back-to-back threes, the second near the horn to pull the Patriots back even at 33-33. Victory opened the scoring in the fourth, but the Patriots went on an eight-point run to go up six, with Lucas scoring six of the eight on two baskets and a pair of free throws. The Patriots never let the Lions get closer than four after that, as the Patriot ball-movement improved greatly, freeing up the middle for some baskets by Nate (2) and Josh. Seth completed the scoring on a layup, and the Patriots had their first win ever over Victory. Ugly, but effective.
Seth and Lucas each had thirteen points to lead the team. Josh and Kyle had eight apiece and Nate added seven. Ethan and Peter each got some playing time due to foul trouble but neither scored. Nate led in rebounding with eleven, with Josh adding nine and Lucas eight. Nate also led the team with four assists and three blocks. Seth and Kyle had three assists each, and Josh led the team in steals with three.
The Patriots now have as many wins this year, before Christmas, as they had the two prior years combined. Each of those first two years, however, included one victory over a JV team, so this year's team is already ahead in varsity victories. The big improvement has been on the offensive side; while the 2011-2012 edition is giving up about two points less than the average of the first two seasons, the scoring is up nearly twenty-five points a game. In comparison to last year, a better year than the first, the defense is giving up less than one point per game fewer (47.5 vs. 48.1), but scoring is up twenty-one points per game (54 vs 32.8). Eight times this year the Patriots scored more in a game that their highest-scoring game of the past two years. Individually, records broken include points in a game (Seth with 28 against Grace, breaking Justin's record of 23) and assists in a game (9, by Seth against Calumet, breaking his own record of eight, set against Community).
Next up is Families of Faith Christian Academy, who is coming off a big upset of Victory last Tuesday. We will be taking on the Screaming Eagles on Monday on our home court at Hidden Cove. Junior high is at 5:30 with varsity to follow. See you there.
I didn't get there until almost the end of the first quarter (thank you Friday night 80-94 traffic), and by that time the guys were up 12-4. Per the dad I was sitting with, the first quarter belonged to Kyle, who was driving and finishing, scoring all eight of his points in the quarter. VCA was limited to a three and a free throw to that point, and it looked like HSRC might cruise to the win. Not so fast. VCA's #2 came out strong to open the second, opening the scoring with a three followed a old-fashioned three - scoring on the the free throw when he was fouled while scoring. His teammates joined in the fun as VCA went on a ten-point run to take the lead at 14-12. On the offensive side, the Patriots couldn't find the basket from the outside, and Victory's interior defense was solid. Seth did finally stop the run. After a Lions free throw, Lucas finally found the basket to put the Patriots back on top. Nate followed this with a score, but that was all the scoring for the Patriots for the half. A Lions bucket pulled them to within one, then #2 popped in another three to put VCA back on top. A crazy off-balance three off an offensive rebound at the buzzer completed Victory's eight-point run to close the half and gave VCA its largest lead of the game, 23-18.
VCA opened the scoring in the second half with a basket, but the inside game showed a little life here. Nate got fouled and made one of two free throws, and Josh scored to pull the Patriots to within four, but VCA quickly answered with two more scores. Lucas, as he as done before this season, asserted himself after halftime. He followed a three with a two-pointer to cut the lead to three. Victory scored two more baskets sandwiched around a Seth free throw to make it a six point game, but Seth made back-to-back threes, the second near the horn to pull the Patriots back even at 33-33. Victory opened the scoring in the fourth, but the Patriots went on an eight-point run to go up six, with Lucas scoring six of the eight on two baskets and a pair of free throws. The Patriots never let the Lions get closer than four after that, as the Patriot ball-movement improved greatly, freeing up the middle for some baskets by Nate (2) and Josh. Seth completed the scoring on a layup, and the Patriots had their first win ever over Victory. Ugly, but effective.
Seth and Lucas each had thirteen points to lead the team. Josh and Kyle had eight apiece and Nate added seven. Ethan and Peter each got some playing time due to foul trouble but neither scored. Nate led in rebounding with eleven, with Josh adding nine and Lucas eight. Nate also led the team with four assists and three blocks. Seth and Kyle had three assists each, and Josh led the team in steals with three.
The Patriots now have as many wins this year, before Christmas, as they had the two prior years combined. Each of those first two years, however, included one victory over a JV team, so this year's team is already ahead in varsity victories. The big improvement has been on the offensive side; while the 2011-2012 edition is giving up about two points less than the average of the first two seasons, the scoring is up nearly twenty-five points a game. In comparison to last year, a better year than the first, the defense is giving up less than one point per game fewer (47.5 vs. 48.1), but scoring is up twenty-one points per game (54 vs 32.8). Eight times this year the Patriots scored more in a game that their highest-scoring game of the past two years. Individually, records broken include points in a game (Seth with 28 against Grace, breaking Justin's record of 23) and assists in a game (9, by Seth against Calumet, breaking his own record of eight, set against Community).
Next up is Families of Faith Christian Academy, who is coming off a big upset of Victory last Tuesday. We will be taking on the Screaming Eagles on Monday on our home court at Hidden Cove. Junior high is at 5:30 with varsity to follow. See you there.
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