Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Friday, December 18, 2009
A win should be more fun
Tonight we traveled to the Courts of Northwest Indiana (some even traveled there directly ;-)) to play the Portage Christian School JV boys team and varsity girls. The tone was set for the evening when some of our parents and players arrived and found Portage's boys leaving. They had just played a varsity game and someone forgot to tell them they had a JV game. Thankfully they were able to keep the players there that hadn't left and got some others to come back. Since some of the players were varsity players, we're going to consider this game a varsity one. Next there was the problem of warm-up time arriving before most of our players. People, read your emails! Anyway, the team had all arrived by 5, and the game got started at 5:15.
I'm going to guess their point guard is their varsity point guard. Number 11 was quick, could handle the ball and could shoot. Number 15 was quite good as well, playing down low. The first quarter saw 11 get things going with a drive to the basket right off the tip. They then played strong defense, harassing our ball handlers and causing eight turnovers while only allowing us to take four shots. Meanwhile Portage was getting points both inside and outside. Score at the end of one was 11-2, Portage.
Our guys started holding on to the ball a little better in the second, committing only six turnovers. They also crashed the boards harder, getting eleven in the quarter. And they got off more shots. Twelve to be exact. Three went in. Luke Dorn, Dustin and Justin each got a basket off of rebounds. Portage also made three field goals, but one was a three. They had just as many attempts as the first quarter, but our defense was a little more active. Score at half was Portage, 18-8.
In the third, Number 15 ("Woody") started muscling in shots underneath. He scored eight of their thirteen on three of five field goals and two free throws. They also cranked up the defense. They didn't cause our guys to turn it over much, but we couldn't get many open shots. Luke D. popped in a three for the Patriots' only points in the quarter. Six other shots went awry. So now Portage led by twenty going into the fourth quarter, 31-11.
Stanley found his shot just in time for the fourth quarter. He made a couple from the corner and another from the field and only missed two. Justin got another one. Portage had a hard time hitting shots in the quarter, so the Patriots had the satisfaction of "winning" the quarter, 8-7. Final score: 38-19, Portage. Justin and Stanley finished with six points each, while Luke D. had five and Dustin had a basket. Luke L. once again led with fourteen rebounds while Justin had ten. The quarter was an encouragement to the team, as the offense started clicking. Hopefully they can use this to build on for the future. The Portage coaches came over and were very encouraging to our guys. Quite a contrast to the girls' game.
We played Portage last year and led most of the game, but Portage caught and passed us and won by five. We knew that one of their tall girls graduated and with our improvement, we felt we could win this one. But the way the girls shot in the first quarter, they weren't going to beat anyone. Twelve shots went up and a total of one went in. Portage was flinging it up even more than HSRC, and got two to fall to go with a free throw. Hmmm, a free throw. We didn't get many of those this game. More on that later. After one it was 5-2, Portage.
The Patriots scored the first six points in the second to lead by three. After a basket exchange, HSRC got another one and led by five. During this stretch, the Portage coach started getting agitated, complaining a lot about calls and noncalls. Meanwhile, Portage went to the line again. Free throw count to this point: Portage 4, HSRC 0. Foul calls at the half: HSRC 3, Portage 0. Team playing aggressively on defense: Portage. Not exactly sure what the problem was. Portage made one of the two free throws to pull within four at the half, 12-8.
In the third, the Patriots continued the pattern they started in the second. Portage was playing a box-and-one, where they play a square zone with four of their players and the fifth played man-to-man against Kara. Because of this, HSRC had begun to work it inside in the second, resulting in Becca and Rachel scoring six of the team's ten. In the third, Becca hit a couple of nice ten-footers from the baseline, and she and Rachel scored all of the teams' points. On the other end of the court, the defense was decent, not great, but held Portage to six. All this time, Portage's coach kept up the haranguing of the refs. I don't have the foul count for the quarter, but I do know that Portage got two more free throws and HSRC got none. Anyway, we went into the fourth quarter leading 20-14.
The fourth quarter began with some misses on both sides, but the Portage coach thought that there were fouls against his players that weren't being called. He got more and more upset, and after the refs asked him to stop complaining, they finally had enough and called a technical on the coach. Becca was sent to the line to take them. She missed the first, and as she took the second, one of their players yelled, which I believe demonstrated a lack of sportmanship. After this, an assistant coach took up the role of ref baiter. The ref explained that he had to sit down, that after a technical no coaches were allowed to stand. He told the coach that three times. The coach did not sit dow. Technical #2. Becca again went to the line. While she was shooting, the bench players started cheering to distract her. More poor sportsmanship. The coach then substituted his entire starting team out. The starters sat on the bench and cheered derisively the rest of the game. I believe some of the Portage parent joined in as well. While all this was going on, HSRC cranked up the defense. The shooting cooled off, however, so the Patriots only scored six in the quarter. When Coach Boss cleared the bench, the lead was ten. Portage scored one more basket to make the final 26-18.
Final foul tally: HSRC 9, Portage 7. Final non-technical free throw count: Portage 8, HSRC 1. After further poor sportsmanship in comments from the Portage players in the post-game handshakes, it was finally over. Kind of a miserable win.
Anyway, the numbers. Becca had ten points, Rachel six, Kara and Lee four and Alyssa had two. Becca also had fourteen rebounds, three steals and a block, Kara had six steals, three assists and a block, Alyssa had three steals and three assists, and Rachel had ten rebounds. The team shot 12 of 47 from the field and had 36 rebounds.
Now a long Christmas break. Hopefully we can get some gym time between the holidays to keep the skills sharp. Next games are both boys and girls at Crossroads. Watch your emails very closely for the location. Also, practice next Monday is at Crete Reformed Church, on exchange just west of 394. We will also send out an email. Look for it. Don't forget. Don't go to Balmoral School. Just don't. Crete Reformed. Girls at 5 and boys at 7. Not at Balmoral. ;-)
I'm going to guess their point guard is their varsity point guard. Number 11 was quick, could handle the ball and could shoot. Number 15 was quite good as well, playing down low. The first quarter saw 11 get things going with a drive to the basket right off the tip. They then played strong defense, harassing our ball handlers and causing eight turnovers while only allowing us to take four shots. Meanwhile Portage was getting points both inside and outside. Score at the end of one was 11-2, Portage.
Our guys started holding on to the ball a little better in the second, committing only six turnovers. They also crashed the boards harder, getting eleven in the quarter. And they got off more shots. Twelve to be exact. Three went in. Luke Dorn, Dustin and Justin each got a basket off of rebounds. Portage also made three field goals, but one was a three. They had just as many attempts as the first quarter, but our defense was a little more active. Score at half was Portage, 18-8.
In the third, Number 15 ("Woody") started muscling in shots underneath. He scored eight of their thirteen on three of five field goals and two free throws. They also cranked up the defense. They didn't cause our guys to turn it over much, but we couldn't get many open shots. Luke D. popped in a three for the Patriots' only points in the quarter. Six other shots went awry. So now Portage led by twenty going into the fourth quarter, 31-11.
Stanley found his shot just in time for the fourth quarter. He made a couple from the corner and another from the field and only missed two. Justin got another one. Portage had a hard time hitting shots in the quarter, so the Patriots had the satisfaction of "winning" the quarter, 8-7. Final score: 38-19, Portage. Justin and Stanley finished with six points each, while Luke D. had five and Dustin had a basket. Luke L. once again led with fourteen rebounds while Justin had ten. The quarter was an encouragement to the team, as the offense started clicking. Hopefully they can use this to build on for the future. The Portage coaches came over and were very encouraging to our guys. Quite a contrast to the girls' game.
We played Portage last year and led most of the game, but Portage caught and passed us and won by five. We knew that one of their tall girls graduated and with our improvement, we felt we could win this one. But the way the girls shot in the first quarter, they weren't going to beat anyone. Twelve shots went up and a total of one went in. Portage was flinging it up even more than HSRC, and got two to fall to go with a free throw. Hmmm, a free throw. We didn't get many of those this game. More on that later. After one it was 5-2, Portage.
The Patriots scored the first six points in the second to lead by three. After a basket exchange, HSRC got another one and led by five. During this stretch, the Portage coach started getting agitated, complaining a lot about calls and noncalls. Meanwhile, Portage went to the line again. Free throw count to this point: Portage 4, HSRC 0. Foul calls at the half: HSRC 3, Portage 0. Team playing aggressively on defense: Portage. Not exactly sure what the problem was. Portage made one of the two free throws to pull within four at the half, 12-8.
In the third, the Patriots continued the pattern they started in the second. Portage was playing a box-and-one, where they play a square zone with four of their players and the fifth played man-to-man against Kara. Because of this, HSRC had begun to work it inside in the second, resulting in Becca and Rachel scoring six of the team's ten. In the third, Becca hit a couple of nice ten-footers from the baseline, and she and Rachel scored all of the teams' points. On the other end of the court, the defense was decent, not great, but held Portage to six. All this time, Portage's coach kept up the haranguing of the refs. I don't have the foul count for the quarter, but I do know that Portage got two more free throws and HSRC got none. Anyway, we went into the fourth quarter leading 20-14.
The fourth quarter began with some misses on both sides, but the Portage coach thought that there were fouls against his players that weren't being called. He got more and more upset, and after the refs asked him to stop complaining, they finally had enough and called a technical on the coach. Becca was sent to the line to take them. She missed the first, and as she took the second, one of their players yelled, which I believe demonstrated a lack of sportmanship. After this, an assistant coach took up the role of ref baiter. The ref explained that he had to sit down, that after a technical no coaches were allowed to stand. He told the coach that three times. The coach did not sit dow. Technical #2. Becca again went to the line. While she was shooting, the bench players started cheering to distract her. More poor sportsmanship. The coach then substituted his entire starting team out. The starters sat on the bench and cheered derisively the rest of the game. I believe some of the Portage parent joined in as well. While all this was going on, HSRC cranked up the defense. The shooting cooled off, however, so the Patriots only scored six in the quarter. When Coach Boss cleared the bench, the lead was ten. Portage scored one more basket to make the final 26-18.
Final foul tally: HSRC 9, Portage 7. Final non-technical free throw count: Portage 8, HSRC 1. After further poor sportsmanship in comments from the Portage players in the post-game handshakes, it was finally over. Kind of a miserable win.
Anyway, the numbers. Becca had ten points, Rachel six, Kara and Lee four and Alyssa had two. Becca also had fourteen rebounds, three steals and a block, Kara had six steals, three assists and a block, Alyssa had three steals and three assists, and Rachel had ten rebounds. The team shot 12 of 47 from the field and had 36 rebounds.
Now a long Christmas break. Hopefully we can get some gym time between the holidays to keep the skills sharp. Next games are both boys and girls at Crossroads. Watch your emails very closely for the location. Also, practice next Monday is at Crete Reformed Church, on exchange just west of 394. We will also send out an email. Look for it. Don't forget. Don't go to Balmoral School. Just don't. Crete Reformed. Girls at 5 and boys at 7. Not at Balmoral. ;-)
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
A little better every time out
Last night the guys went up against Romeoville Christian. We thought we were playing their JV, but today I see their score listed in the IACS website as a varsity game. So we'll count it as that. A little aside: We got there just after the second half started in the junior high game that preceded ours. After a couple of minutes I remembered the coach of the team opposing Romeoville: the crazed screamer from Landmark. We remember him from two years ago when our girls played a partial junior high schedule and we had the privilege (ahem) of playing his girls' team twice. He is wrapped just a little too tightly. He was pressing with his starters with a big lead at the end of the game the second time we played him, I recall. I'm glad my kids didn't have to play for him, but he is entertaining to watch. Anyway, back to the boys.
Starters tonight were Stanley, Luke D., Jimi, Luke L. and Justin. Romeoville had some tall players in their starting lineup, including their star, Dmitri Beaubrun, who played point guard. The game started out as they usually do, with both teams a little tentative as they got a feel for each other's play. Beaubrun concentrated on defense and passing, and got his forwards some good opportunities for shots. Meanwhile, the Patriots ran their offense fairly well and got several open shots, which did not cooperate by actually falling through the hoop. Because Romeoville was getting inside better than were were, Beaubrun was hounding Stanley throughout the quarter, and our shots wouldn't go down, the score at the end of one was 13-3. Dustin had the only basket in the quarter and Stanley added a free throw.
Romeoville substitued freely in the second quarter, and our guys started getting the ball to drop. After going 1 for 13 in the first, the Patriots made 3 of 11 in the second, with Dustin, Justin and Stanley each getting a field goal. HSRC slowed the Kingsmen a little this quarter and they got ten which gave us a half-time score of 23-9. A remarkable stat at this point was that the Patriots already had 26 rebounds, many of them offensive as so many of our shots wouldn't fall.
The third quarter was a good quarter, even though the score was similar to the second. The Patriots played this one mainly against Romeoville's first string. The guys started getting the ball to Justin down low, and he made it work. He scored all of HSRC's points in the quarter with five. Our outside shots continued to be problematic. Romeoville had ten in the quarter, most of them from Beaubrun. The score was 33-14 at the end of three quarters.
The fourth was a kind of sloppy. Romeoville mostly played their bench players, who played with a lot of energy but not much skill. Our guys seemed a little tired. None of the outside shots would fall. The only score in quarter by the Patriots was an inside shot by Justin. Romeoville only got five themselves, leading to the final score of 38-16.
The Patriots shot only 7 for 53 in the game, with thirty-two turnovers. Scoring for the Patriots was as follows: Justin with nine, Dustin with four and Stanley with three. Luke L. had sixteen rebounds (team high for the season) while Justin had fourteen. Luke L. also had four steals while Luke D. had three and Dustin had two. Jimi once again led in blocks with two, and one of them was quite authoritative.
Portage is up next. I think the guys have a chance to at least be in this game. It's as the Courts of Northwest Indiana in Valparaiso. Guys at 5, girls at 6:30. See you there.
Starters tonight were Stanley, Luke D., Jimi, Luke L. and Justin. Romeoville had some tall players in their starting lineup, including their star, Dmitri Beaubrun, who played point guard. The game started out as they usually do, with both teams a little tentative as they got a feel for each other's play. Beaubrun concentrated on defense and passing, and got his forwards some good opportunities for shots. Meanwhile, the Patriots ran their offense fairly well and got several open shots, which did not cooperate by actually falling through the hoop. Because Romeoville was getting inside better than were were, Beaubrun was hounding Stanley throughout the quarter, and our shots wouldn't go down, the score at the end of one was 13-3. Dustin had the only basket in the quarter and Stanley added a free throw.
Romeoville substitued freely in the second quarter, and our guys started getting the ball to drop. After going 1 for 13 in the first, the Patriots made 3 of 11 in the second, with Dustin, Justin and Stanley each getting a field goal. HSRC slowed the Kingsmen a little this quarter and they got ten which gave us a half-time score of 23-9. A remarkable stat at this point was that the Patriots already had 26 rebounds, many of them offensive as so many of our shots wouldn't fall.
The third quarter was a good quarter, even though the score was similar to the second. The Patriots played this one mainly against Romeoville's first string. The guys started getting the ball to Justin down low, and he made it work. He scored all of HSRC's points in the quarter with five. Our outside shots continued to be problematic. Romeoville had ten in the quarter, most of them from Beaubrun. The score was 33-14 at the end of three quarters.
The fourth was a kind of sloppy. Romeoville mostly played their bench players, who played with a lot of energy but not much skill. Our guys seemed a little tired. None of the outside shots would fall. The only score in quarter by the Patriots was an inside shot by Justin. Romeoville only got five themselves, leading to the final score of 38-16.
The Patriots shot only 7 for 53 in the game, with thirty-two turnovers. Scoring for the Patriots was as follows: Justin with nine, Dustin with four and Stanley with three. Luke L. had sixteen rebounds (team high for the season) while Justin had fourteen. Luke L. also had four steals while Luke D. had three and Dustin had two. Jimi once again led in blocks with two, and one of them was quite authoritative.
Portage is up next. I think the guys have a chance to at least be in this game. It's as the Courts of Northwest Indiana in Valparaiso. Guys at 5, girls at 6:30. See you there.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Girl's box score from Saturday's game
Here's the box score from Saturday's girls' game. I will try to get the boxes for the boys up soon.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Short synopsis of a long day
The Patriots traveled to Gurnee today for two boys games and one girls against the HRK Eagles. After a long drive, several cars, vans and SUVs loaded with parents and players arrived over a period of a half hour or so. After warm-ups, the boys game against the Eagles' JV game began. The guys stayed close for a while in the first quarter, even scoring the first basket (Justin). But HRK began pulling away late in the first to a 9-2 lead at the end of one. The second quarter saw HRK getting points from the free throw line - five of their ten for the quarter. The Patriots got a basket from Justin and one from Jimi for their offense for the quarter, so the Patriots were down thirteen at the half. The third quarter was the most competitive. Justin got two baskets, one inside and one outside and Luke Lorenz made a free throw. They held HRK to only seven in the quarter. HSRC finally got to the free throw line regularly in the fourth. Seven of the nine points were scored via foul shot, five by Justin. However, the defense broke down, giving up eighteen. Final score was 44-20. This was the highwater mark for scoring so far this year. Justin had thirteen points and eleven rebounds, while Luke Lorenz had fourteen rebounds.
The girls game followed immediately afterwards. HRK blew us out last year 52-16 in the first round of the state tournament. They graduated many of their players, however, and we had improved. And we were better tonight, except that they girls were really cold from the floor. They shot and shot and shot, but very few went in. Becca made a couple of shots early but after that, it was like pulling teeth to get a basket. HSRC led 5-2 at the end of one and 9-6 at the half. HRK found the basket in the third, while the Patriots continued to struggle. HRK outscored our girls 10-5 in the period to lead by two. HRK got the first three in the fourth quarter to take a five point lead, but then Kara finally started to hit. A three and a two after some nice passes tied the game up. Kara got another basket to put HSRC ahead, but then HRK tied it up. The Patriots had the ball with four seconds to go, and got it down to Rachel for a ten-footer, but it wouldn't go down. Overtime. HRK had implemented a box and one defense to shut down Kara and it worked. She didn't get a shot in overtime and the rest of the girls couldn't get one to fall. HRK got three free throws and a basket in the period to win 26-21. Becca had six points, fifteen rebounds and eight steals. Kara had seven points and nine steals.
HRK's varsity boys were up next for our guys. After losing by 24 to the JV, we were all pretty resigned to a blowout. And that's what we got, though the boys played with a lot of heart and energy and didn't embarrass themselves. I won't go into detail, except to say that the score of their first-stringers against ours was 42-8. The final, after HRK put in their JV and Coach Boss emptied the bench was 58-10. It was a learning experience. The important thing was that we continue to see improvement in the boys from game to game.
Next game is boys only on Tuesday at Romeoville Christian. On Friday, we travel to Portage Christian. Watch your email for details.
The girls game followed immediately afterwards. HRK blew us out last year 52-16 in the first round of the state tournament. They graduated many of their players, however, and we had improved. And we were better tonight, except that they girls were really cold from the floor. They shot and shot and shot, but very few went in. Becca made a couple of shots early but after that, it was like pulling teeth to get a basket. HSRC led 5-2 at the end of one and 9-6 at the half. HRK found the basket in the third, while the Patriots continued to struggle. HRK outscored our girls 10-5 in the period to lead by two. HRK got the first three in the fourth quarter to take a five point lead, but then Kara finally started to hit. A three and a two after some nice passes tied the game up. Kara got another basket to put HSRC ahead, but then HRK tied it up. The Patriots had the ball with four seconds to go, and got it down to Rachel for a ten-footer, but it wouldn't go down. Overtime. HRK had implemented a box and one defense to shut down Kara and it worked. She didn't get a shot in overtime and the rest of the girls couldn't get one to fall. HRK got three free throws and a basket in the period to win 26-21. Becca had six points, fifteen rebounds and eight steals. Kara had seven points and nine steals.
HRK's varsity boys were up next for our guys. After losing by 24 to the JV, we were all pretty resigned to a blowout. And that's what we got, though the boys played with a lot of heart and energy and didn't embarrass themselves. I won't go into detail, except to say that the score of their first-stringers against ours was 42-8. The final, after HRK put in their JV and Coach Boss emptied the bench was 58-10. It was a learning experience. The important thing was that we continue to see improvement in the boys from game to game.
Next game is boys only on Tuesday at Romeoville Christian. On Friday, we travel to Portage Christian. Watch your email for details.
Friday, December 11, 2009
A little better
Tonight's performance by the guys was a little better than the first two games, but not good enough to get a win. The Patriots traveled back to Lincoln Center in Highland, Indiana tonight for a boys' JV game. It was closer than the first two games, but HSRC still went down to defeat, 29-14.
The defensive effort through the game was solid, but though HSRC made them work, Calumet was a patient team and worked the ball around until they had a decent shot. Our offense however was, well, offensive. The Patriots were shut out in the first quarter while Calumet scored nine. To be fair, Coach Boss shook up the lineup a little, starting Dustin at guard. It was evident at first that the guys were having a little trouble getting used to the new lineup.
The second quarter found the Patriots crashing the boards, getting some steals, making it difficult for Calumet to get off a good shot, and a little better shooting. Luke got an inside basket and was fouled, but missed the free throw. Dustin got a little jumper to go, and Justin finally was able to muscle on in. Justin also made a free throw to complete the scoring for HSRC. The guys limited Calumet to six in the quarter, so the lead was trimmed from nine at the end of one to eight at the half, 15-7. Interesting stat of the quarter was that HSRC got off eleven shots while Calumet threw up only five.
The guys had a hard time hanging on to the ball in the third. After only making five turnovers in the first half, they had six in the third. Justin was also having a tough time to get the inside shots to drop. He did get one to go it late in the quarter, but it was only after Calumet has scored ten. Justin's points were the only ones that HSRC got in the quarter. The eight-point lead of the host team was doubled to sixteen at the end of three, 25-9.
Ballhandling woes continued into the fourth. Defense returned to the second-quarter level, though, so Calumet was limited to two baskets in the quarter. HSRC matched that, with Justin making an inside shot and Stanley popping in a three from the baselin. Those four baskets were all the scoring in the quarter, so HSRC outscored Calumet 5-4 in the quarter to make the final 29-14.
Ballhandling and shooting continue to be our Achilles' heal. Added to that tonight was Justin's difficult time shooting. HSRC ended up with 18 turnovers and shot only 6 for 37 from the field. Justin led in scoring with seven, and in rebounding with seven. Stanley had three points and five steals, Dustin with two as well as Luke Lorenz.
Tomorrow we face HRK of Gurnee in three games: JV, girls, and the V boys. First game starts at 3:30. Hope to see you there.
The defensive effort through the game was solid, but though HSRC made them work, Calumet was a patient team and worked the ball around until they had a decent shot. Our offense however was, well, offensive. The Patriots were shut out in the first quarter while Calumet scored nine. To be fair, Coach Boss shook up the lineup a little, starting Dustin at guard. It was evident at first that the guys were having a little trouble getting used to the new lineup.
The second quarter found the Patriots crashing the boards, getting some steals, making it difficult for Calumet to get off a good shot, and a little better shooting. Luke got an inside basket and was fouled, but missed the free throw. Dustin got a little jumper to go, and Justin finally was able to muscle on in. Justin also made a free throw to complete the scoring for HSRC. The guys limited Calumet to six in the quarter, so the lead was trimmed from nine at the end of one to eight at the half, 15-7. Interesting stat of the quarter was that HSRC got off eleven shots while Calumet threw up only five.
The guys had a hard time hanging on to the ball in the third. After only making five turnovers in the first half, they had six in the third. Justin was also having a tough time to get the inside shots to drop. He did get one to go it late in the quarter, but it was only after Calumet has scored ten. Justin's points were the only ones that HSRC got in the quarter. The eight-point lead of the host team was doubled to sixteen at the end of three, 25-9.
Ballhandling woes continued into the fourth. Defense returned to the second-quarter level, though, so Calumet was limited to two baskets in the quarter. HSRC matched that, with Justin making an inside shot and Stanley popping in a three from the baselin. Those four baskets were all the scoring in the quarter, so HSRC outscored Calumet 5-4 in the quarter to make the final 29-14.
Ballhandling and shooting continue to be our Achilles' heal. Added to that tonight was Justin's difficult time shooting. HSRC ended up with 18 turnovers and shot only 6 for 37 from the field. Justin led in scoring with seven, and in rebounding with seven. Stanley had three points and five steals, Dustin with two as well as Luke Lorenz.
Tomorrow we face HRK of Gurnee in three games: JV, girls, and the V boys. First game starts at 3:30. Hope to see you there.
Monday, December 7, 2009
I'm a sexist
Yes, you read that correctly. I'm a sexist. I have this crazy belief that girls' sports should be played differently, and for that matter officiated differently, than boys' sports. As I've watched girls basketball over the last two plus seasons, I fear that I am in a minority. A shrinking minority.
Tonight was Exhibit A. Or I should say H or so. A through G occurred over the last couple of years.
Tonights opponent was Luther East. Many of you are familiar with them from the flag football season. Many of you are also familiar with their point guard, who was their sometime quarterback. Well, she plays basketball like a football player. A lot of blasting through the line, shedding tacklers, gaining the extra yard. Except this is basketball. Anyway, back to the game. We played a good game with them last year, losing 57-45. We knew that we are better, so we hoped for a different outcome this year.
The game started like we remembered from last year. Luther East played a tight zone and we threw up outside shots over it. A lot of shots. Eighteen in the first quarter, to be exact. Four of them went in, and two were threes. On the defensive end, our girls played good defense, only allowing one basket and two free throws. Oh, free throws. I'll get back to that later. We finished the quarter leading 10-4.
Luther East changed up their defense in the second quarter. They pressured the ball and the Patriots were not ready for it. Luther East scored the first six points of the quarter to tie it up. Coach Boss made some adjustments at this point, and the Patriots slowly regained control. Kara made a shot, then followed it up with two threes. After a basket by Luther East to make it 18-12, Alyssa got a basket. Luther East scored the last basket in the quarter to make it 20-14 at the half. One play in the quarter gave us a picture of what the second half would be like: Lee was shoved by one Luther East player into another; foul, Lee Bianchi.
The third quarter saw more pressure from Luther East, especially on Kara bringing the ball up court. Even though the girls were ready for it, Luther East still got six of the first eight points of the quarter to pull within two. Luther East's play got more and more physical, but the fouls were being called on HSRC. Now, the Patriots need work on their defensive positioning, but if their reach-ins were fouls, Luther East's maulings certainly were too. Kara knocked down a three to open it back up to five. By this time HSRC was in the penalty with fouls, so Luther East was shooting free throws. They had six attempts in the quarter; we had two. LE made four of theirs at the the end of the quarter, as well as a basket by their fullback.. er... point guard. The score was 27-26, HSRC at the end of three.
By this time Rachel had fouled out and Lee had four fouls. It looked like the fourth quarter was going to be a test of our depth. And when Lee fouled out, it definitely was. Coach Boss was forced to play at least one inexperienced player for the rest of the game. LE finally caught HSRC at 28 when they scored from, you guessed it, the free throw line. From then on, it was nip and tuck. I didn't mark all the scores from here, but I do remember LE got ahead toward the end of the game by three, 40-37. I believe Becca scored the last basket of the game on a put-back. HSRC made one of two free throws to go up by two. With 2.6 seconds to go, a jump ball was called. LE had the possession arrow. HSRC covered the inbounds play very well, and LE threw it away. HSRC ball, under the basket. LE intercepted the inbounds pass. Kara immediately fouled her with one second to go. LE missed both free throws, and Becca rebounded with the one second remaining. But the girls couldn't throw the ball down the court far enough with accuracy, so the the desperation shot Kara threw up was far short, and the Patriots went down to defeat, 41-39.
The final free throw tallies were 24 attempts for LE, 7 for the Patriots. Luther East played such a physical style that they seemed to mesmerize the officials. Our ticky-tack fouls were called, and their banging went unnoticed. Because we weren't real strong on rebounding positioning, we didn't make it clear to the refs that LE was reaching in. But LE was so over-the-top on some of them that it was a mystery why calls weren't made.
We don't have another game scheduled yet to play LE's girls, but their AD is open to scheduling one, so the girls may have a chance to make the adjustments necessary to even things up. We'll see.
Next games are the boys on Friday at 6:00 [EDIT: 5:15] against Calumet at the Lincoln Center. On Saturday the teams travel to Gurnee for one girls game in between a boys game against HRK's JV and varsity. It's a long trip, but if you can make it, the kids will appreciate the support.
Tonight was Exhibit A. Or I should say H or so. A through G occurred over the last couple of years.
Tonights opponent was Luther East. Many of you are familiar with them from the flag football season. Many of you are also familiar with their point guard, who was their sometime quarterback. Well, she plays basketball like a football player. A lot of blasting through the line, shedding tacklers, gaining the extra yard. Except this is basketball. Anyway, back to the game. We played a good game with them last year, losing 57-45. We knew that we are better, so we hoped for a different outcome this year.
The game started like we remembered from last year. Luther East played a tight zone and we threw up outside shots over it. A lot of shots. Eighteen in the first quarter, to be exact. Four of them went in, and two were threes. On the defensive end, our girls played good defense, only allowing one basket and two free throws. Oh, free throws. I'll get back to that later. We finished the quarter leading 10-4.
Luther East changed up their defense in the second quarter. They pressured the ball and the Patriots were not ready for it. Luther East scored the first six points of the quarter to tie it up. Coach Boss made some adjustments at this point, and the Patriots slowly regained control. Kara made a shot, then followed it up with two threes. After a basket by Luther East to make it 18-12, Alyssa got a basket. Luther East scored the last basket in the quarter to make it 20-14 at the half. One play in the quarter gave us a picture of what the second half would be like: Lee was shoved by one Luther East player into another; foul, Lee Bianchi.
The third quarter saw more pressure from Luther East, especially on Kara bringing the ball up court. Even though the girls were ready for it, Luther East still got six of the first eight points of the quarter to pull within two. Luther East's play got more and more physical, but the fouls were being called on HSRC. Now, the Patriots need work on their defensive positioning, but if their reach-ins were fouls, Luther East's maulings certainly were too. Kara knocked down a three to open it back up to five. By this time HSRC was in the penalty with fouls, so Luther East was shooting free throws. They had six attempts in the quarter; we had two. LE made four of theirs at the the end of the quarter, as well as a basket by their fullback.. er... point guard. The score was 27-26, HSRC at the end of three.
By this time Rachel had fouled out and Lee had four fouls. It looked like the fourth quarter was going to be a test of our depth. And when Lee fouled out, it definitely was. Coach Boss was forced to play at least one inexperienced player for the rest of the game. LE finally caught HSRC at 28 when they scored from, you guessed it, the free throw line. From then on, it was nip and tuck. I didn't mark all the scores from here, but I do remember LE got ahead toward the end of the game by three, 40-37. I believe Becca scored the last basket of the game on a put-back. HSRC made one of two free throws to go up by two. With 2.6 seconds to go, a jump ball was called. LE had the possession arrow. HSRC covered the inbounds play very well, and LE threw it away. HSRC ball, under the basket. LE intercepted the inbounds pass. Kara immediately fouled her with one second to go. LE missed both free throws, and Becca rebounded with the one second remaining. But the girls couldn't throw the ball down the court far enough with accuracy, so the the desperation shot Kara threw up was far short, and the Patriots went down to defeat, 41-39.
The final free throw tallies were 24 attempts for LE, 7 for the Patriots. Luther East played such a physical style that they seemed to mesmerize the officials. Our ticky-tack fouls were called, and their banging went unnoticed. Because we weren't real strong on rebounding positioning, we didn't make it clear to the refs that LE was reaching in. But LE was so over-the-top on some of them that it was a mystery why calls weren't made.
We don't have another game scheduled yet to play LE's girls, but their AD is open to scheduling one, so the girls may have a chance to make the adjustments necessary to even things up. We'll see.
Next games are the boys on Friday at 6:00 [EDIT: 5:15] against Calumet at the Lincoln Center. On Saturday the teams travel to Gurnee for one girls game in between a boys game against HRK's JV and varsity. It's a long trip, but if you can make it, the kids will appreciate the support.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Familiar opponents
Tonight was a civil war of sorts, as the HSRC Lady Patriots played the Calumet Christian Patriots at the Lincoln Center in Highland, Indiana. Calumet is coached by Jeff Schaap, former coach of the core of the HSRC team (two years ago), and his daughter Cassidy was a member of that team the past two years. Also, some of the girls on the Calumet team were members of the Calumet volleyball program that Kara played with the last few years. So we are not strangers.
We got there in time to see the second half of the Calumet boys team's game against Quentin Road. Calumet's boys are coached by Don Hough, another familiar face to many of us with the HSRC program. The girls teams took the floor a little late because the boys' game ran long. After some glitches with the scoreboard, the game finally got going about 7:45. Since Alyssa arrived late, Hannah joined Kara, Becca, Lee and Carolyn in the starting lineup.
The first quarter was marked by a flurry of shots, mostly threes by Kara. HSRC ran a play which freed up the girls for open outside shots, but not too many fell. Lee did get a three to go it, and then a short time later made one of two free throws. While Kara couldn't get a three to go down, she did get a couple of short shots to go. Lee also got a short shot to fall in the quarter. On the other end of the court, the girls played stout defense. They didn't allow Calumet to get many shots, and the ones they got, they mostly missed. While HSRC was 4 for 15 for the quarter, Calumet was one for nine, with Kayla Obinger getting the lone basket. The score at the end of one was 10-2.
The second quarter was a similar to quarter one. HSRC threw up a lot of shots and a few went in. The defense continued to be strong. Becca got most of the rebounds. The team got six steals but also had five turnovers. HSRC scored nine in the quarter and shut out Calumet, so the half ended with HSRC leading 19-2.
Rachel Eizenga made her season debut when she went in for Carolyn with 1:46 gone in the second quarter, but she really made her presence felt in the third quarter. SHe scored four of the team's nine points in the quarter and was strong underneath, both in defending and rebounding. The rest of the team kept up their good defense and Calumet was held again to two points. At the end of three, HSRC had a commanding 28-4 lead.
Lee had picked up her fourth foul early in the third, so she was on the bench for most of the third and into the fourth. Becca got a basket early in the fourth, but then she picked up her fourth. Because of the foul trouble and the large lead, Coach Boss was able to give some playing time to the bench players. Hannah and Ashley Wessels were able to sub in with about three minutes gone, and then Ashley VanderPloeg also got her chance when Lee fouled out with about 1:45 left. Finally, Emma got in with thirty seconds to go, so every member of the team was able to get some playing time. Calumet was able to take advantage of the youth and inexperience and were able to score the last eight points of the game. Final score was 30-12.
The girls didn't shoot well, ending up 13 for 54 overall. Three point shooting was 2 for 18. The girls were 2 for 6 from the free throw line. Kara led in scoring with 12, while Lee had 8, Becca and Rachel had four each and Alyssa had two. Becca owned the boards with 12 while Rachel had six. Alyssa had five assists. Becca led in steals with five, while Kara had four and Alyssa had three. Becca, Rachel and Lee each had a block. (Yes, Lee.)
Next game is Monday against Luther East at St. John's Lutheran in Lansing. Address/map is on the blog. NOTE: THERE IS NO BOYS GAME. There will only be a girls game. Luther East's boy's team is academically ineligible. They hope to reschedule the game for later in the season. Also, times are now set for the Gurnee games on the 12th, boys and girls games have been scheduled against Brentwood Baptist Christian in Des Plaines on January 8, and a boys game has been added against Families of Faith Christian Academy in Channahon (no, our church has not started a school) on February 19 at 5:30 or 7:00. We don't have a specific address yet, as they are in the process of building a school building. I put their current address on the map, but that is probably not where we're going to play. Check the calendar schedule for these changes.
We got there in time to see the second half of the Calumet boys team's game against Quentin Road. Calumet's boys are coached by Don Hough, another familiar face to many of us with the HSRC program. The girls teams took the floor a little late because the boys' game ran long. After some glitches with the scoreboard, the game finally got going about 7:45. Since Alyssa arrived late, Hannah joined Kara, Becca, Lee and Carolyn in the starting lineup.
The first quarter was marked by a flurry of shots, mostly threes by Kara. HSRC ran a play which freed up the girls for open outside shots, but not too many fell. Lee did get a three to go it, and then a short time later made one of two free throws. While Kara couldn't get a three to go down, she did get a couple of short shots to go. Lee also got a short shot to fall in the quarter. On the other end of the court, the girls played stout defense. They didn't allow Calumet to get many shots, and the ones they got, they mostly missed. While HSRC was 4 for 15 for the quarter, Calumet was one for nine, with Kayla Obinger getting the lone basket. The score at the end of one was 10-2.
The second quarter was a similar to quarter one. HSRC threw up a lot of shots and a few went in. The defense continued to be strong. Becca got most of the rebounds. The team got six steals but also had five turnovers. HSRC scored nine in the quarter and shut out Calumet, so the half ended with HSRC leading 19-2.
Rachel Eizenga made her season debut when she went in for Carolyn with 1:46 gone in the second quarter, but she really made her presence felt in the third quarter. SHe scored four of the team's nine points in the quarter and was strong underneath, both in defending and rebounding. The rest of the team kept up their good defense and Calumet was held again to two points. At the end of three, HSRC had a commanding 28-4 lead.
Lee had picked up her fourth foul early in the third, so she was on the bench for most of the third and into the fourth. Becca got a basket early in the fourth, but then she picked up her fourth. Because of the foul trouble and the large lead, Coach Boss was able to give some playing time to the bench players. Hannah and Ashley Wessels were able to sub in with about three minutes gone, and then Ashley VanderPloeg also got her chance when Lee fouled out with about 1:45 left. Finally, Emma got in with thirty seconds to go, so every member of the team was able to get some playing time. Calumet was able to take advantage of the youth and inexperience and were able to score the last eight points of the game. Final score was 30-12.
The girls didn't shoot well, ending up 13 for 54 overall. Three point shooting was 2 for 18. The girls were 2 for 6 from the free throw line. Kara led in scoring with 12, while Lee had 8, Becca and Rachel had four each and Alyssa had two. Becca owned the boards with 12 while Rachel had six. Alyssa had five assists. Becca led in steals with five, while Kara had four and Alyssa had three. Becca, Rachel and Lee each had a block. (Yes, Lee.)
Next game is Monday against Luther East at St. John's Lutheran in Lansing. Address/map is on the blog. NOTE: THERE IS NO BOYS GAME. There will only be a girls game. Luther East's boy's team is academically ineligible. They hope to reschedule the game for later in the season. Also, times are now set for the Gurnee games on the 12th, boys and girls games have been scheduled against Brentwood Baptist Christian in Des Plaines on January 8, and a boys game has been added against Families of Faith Christian Academy in Channahon (no, our church has not started a school) on February 19 at 5:30 or 7:00. We don't have a specific address yet, as they are in the process of building a school building. I put their current address on the map, but that is probably not where we're going to play. Check the calendar schedule for these changes.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Continuing learning experience
The HSRC Patriots boys team played their second game of the season tonight, this one against Hinsdale Adventist Academy's JV team. The lack of experience of each player individually plus the lack of practice time was still quite evident, as the Patriots went down to defeat, 47-14.
Hinsdale's team was probably not as talented as the Heritage we played last week, but Hinsdale's strengths were where we are the weakest - on the perimeter. Hinsdale was not very strong inside, but their guards were good ball-handlers, ball-hawks and shooters. This resulted in a lot of made outside shots by Hinsdale and a lot of turnovers by our guards.
Justin, Jimi, Luke D., Luke L., and Teddy were the starters for the game. The first quarter ended with Hinsdale leading 10-2, but the quarter was strangely encouraging. The shots weren't going down, but the guys were playing with a lot of energy and defending pretty well, but the ball-handling continued to be a problem and the shots weren't falling. The Patriots made one shot (Justin) out of seven taken in the quarter. The team also committed six turnovers.
The second quarter was the best quarter for the Patriots. The guys actually outscored Hinsdale 4-2 to open up the quarter, with Luke L. making a nice inside shot and Stanley driving to the basket for a layup. But then Hinsdale made a three, which seemed to take the wind out of our sails. Luke L. split two free throws to finish up our scoring for the quarter, but not before Hinsdale got a couple more baskets. The score at the end of the half was Hindsdale 19, HSRC 7.
Hinsdale came out very hot in the third quarter. Not only were they hitting their shots, but they also clamped down on defense and caused a lot of turnovers by our guys. HSRC did shoot 33% in the quarter, but only got off six shots, after averaging eight per quarter in the first half. The Patriots nearly doubled their turnover tally in the quarter, giving the ball up eight times for a total of eighteen in the game to that point. Hinsdale scored fifteen in the quarter to our four, and the score at the end of three was Hinsdale, 34-11.
The fourth was more of the same. Hinsdale seemed like they couldn't miss a shot, and weren't letting our guys take any. We made fewer turnovers, but that was mostly because we held the ball so long before passing. The Patriots only got off four shots the whole quarter, but one was a three made by Luke D., his first points of the year. That was the extent of the scoring for HSRC for the quarter. Hinsdale scored thirteen, and the final score was 47-14.
Leading scorer was Luke L., with five. Justin had four, Luke had three and Stanley had two. Justin V.P. led in rebounding with 9, while Luke L. had 7 to go with his block. Justin also had three steals and block; four players each had one assist.
Next game is the girls on Friday at 7:30 vs. Calumet Christian at the Lincoln Center in Highland, IN. Hope to see you there.
Hinsdale's team was probably not as talented as the Heritage we played last week, but Hinsdale's strengths were where we are the weakest - on the perimeter. Hinsdale was not very strong inside, but their guards were good ball-handlers, ball-hawks and shooters. This resulted in a lot of made outside shots by Hinsdale and a lot of turnovers by our guards.
Justin, Jimi, Luke D., Luke L., and Teddy were the starters for the game. The first quarter ended with Hinsdale leading 10-2, but the quarter was strangely encouraging. The shots weren't going down, but the guys were playing with a lot of energy and defending pretty well, but the ball-handling continued to be a problem and the shots weren't falling. The Patriots made one shot (Justin) out of seven taken in the quarter. The team also committed six turnovers.
The second quarter was the best quarter for the Patriots. The guys actually outscored Hinsdale 4-2 to open up the quarter, with Luke L. making a nice inside shot and Stanley driving to the basket for a layup. But then Hinsdale made a three, which seemed to take the wind out of our sails. Luke L. split two free throws to finish up our scoring for the quarter, but not before Hinsdale got a couple more baskets. The score at the end of the half was Hindsdale 19, HSRC 7.
Hinsdale came out very hot in the third quarter. Not only were they hitting their shots, but they also clamped down on defense and caused a lot of turnovers by our guys. HSRC did shoot 33% in the quarter, but only got off six shots, after averaging eight per quarter in the first half. The Patriots nearly doubled their turnover tally in the quarter, giving the ball up eight times for a total of eighteen in the game to that point. Hinsdale scored fifteen in the quarter to our four, and the score at the end of three was Hinsdale, 34-11.
The fourth was more of the same. Hinsdale seemed like they couldn't miss a shot, and weren't letting our guys take any. We made fewer turnovers, but that was mostly because we held the ball so long before passing. The Patriots only got off four shots the whole quarter, but one was a three made by Luke D., his first points of the year. That was the extent of the scoring for HSRC for the quarter. Hinsdale scored thirteen, and the final score was 47-14.
Leading scorer was Luke L., with five. Justin had four, Luke had three and Stanley had two. Justin V.P. led in rebounding with 9, while Luke L. had 7 to go with his block. Justin also had three steals and block; four players each had one assist.
Next game is the girls on Friday at 7:30 vs. Calumet Christian at the Lincoln Center in Highland, IN. Hope to see you there.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Recap of opening night
The Patriots, both the girls team, now in their third year, and the boys, brand new this year, opened up last Monday night at Heritage Christian High in Dyer, Indiana. From what we knew about Heritage, we feared these games would be "baptism by fire", as we knew that Heritage's boys had taken second in last year's ICSTS tournament, and the girls had won the tournament. We also knew that our girls had gained in experience and confidence in the three years they had been playing together, and we were curious to see how they now measured up against some top competition.
At 5:30 the girls started (exactly at 5:30, as I walked in as the opening tip was tossed). As we later found out, Heritage has essentially one girls' team, so it really wasn't a JV team we took on. However, they did limit their upperclassmen's playing time in response to our request for a JV game. So what this all meant was that Danielle Zandstra was going to be going up against us. Yes, the 6'1" or 6'2" Danielle Zandstra. But after the game got going, we found out that our girls weren't intimidated. She often started at the high post, so Becca or Alyssa would pick her up there and slow her down as tried to drop down into the low post. This didn't mean the girls stopped her. She still got her points, just not as many as we thought she might. Anyway, because of some outside shooting by Alyssa and Kara, and some down-low work by Becca, the girls only trailed 13-9 at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter was more of a defensive quarter, as Danielle was on the bench and Heritage worked the ball around the perimeter more, waiting for an open shot. Our girls only got four in the quarter, on a basket and two free throws. Heritage got six, so the score at the half was Heritage, 19-13.
The girls struggled in the third quarter. Heritage started defending the one play the girls had practiced, so there were a lot of turnovers as the girls hadn't had a chance to practice any other plays. Danielle was back in, and she played well. The scoring in the third quarter was 10-3 in favor of Heritage, and the cumulative score was 29-16.
Because of the troubles the girls were having in getting the play to work, Coach Boss called what was essentially a clear-out play, with the four other girls clearing out of the lane to let Kara try to beat the one defender on her (because of the play the girls had run earlier, Heritage was playing what amounted to a 1-2-2 defense, with only one girl on the top of the defense). He also changed the defense to a three-quarter court man-to-man press. Both of these paid off somewhat, but the deficit was too large to make up. The Patriots "won" the fourth quarter, 13-11, but lost the game, 40-29. Overall assessment: the girls looked pretty good, especially having only a few practices.
Key stats were: Kara led in scoring with 16, while Becca had 6, Alyssa had a three, and Lee and Carolyn each had a basket. This was Carolyn's first career basket. Way to go, Carolyn! Becca had five rebounds and three blocks and Kara had three assists and six steals. On the negative side, four girls had four or more turnovers.
The guys then took on what was the Heritage JV boys team. The boys also had very little time to install plays, and a couple of key players were not able to make one or both of the practices in which these plays were practiced. The lack of practice was very obvious early on, as the game started badly for the Patriots. Ball-handling was a problem for the guys, which led to a lot of turnovers. Because lack of practice, the guys were trying to remember what they were to do instead of doing them instinctively. All of this resulted in a 15-3 first quarter deficit and 22-5 at halftime.
Justin VanderPloeg was put in the in the third quarter and seemed to provide a spark. The guys played a little better defense and were only outscored 6-3 in the quarter, but that still meant they were down 29-8 at the end of that quarter.
Heritage seemed to get more comfortable with their game by the time the fourth quarter rolled around, and they started attacking the basket. Our guys were on their heels, the ball-handling was only marginally better, and we had trouble shooting. Heritage outscored HSRC 17-4 in the quarter, and the final was 46-12.
Justin VanderPloeg led in scoring with four on two field goals, while Jimi Dill and Dustin Vail had three each, Jimi on a three, and Dustin with a two and a free throw. Luke Lorenz rounded out the scoring with a basket he got a on nice offensive rebound and put-back. Justin had eight rebounds and Luke L. had seven. Those two also each had an assist, while Luke L. had two steals. Jimi had two blocks.
Next games are the guys at Hinsdale Adventist Academy Monday at 4:30, and the girls against Calumet at Lincoln Center in Highland Friday. Schedules and game locations are at the bottom of the page.
At 5:30 the girls started (exactly at 5:30, as I walked in as the opening tip was tossed). As we later found out, Heritage has essentially one girls' team, so it really wasn't a JV team we took on. However, they did limit their upperclassmen's playing time in response to our request for a JV game. So what this all meant was that Danielle Zandstra was going to be going up against us. Yes, the 6'1" or 6'2" Danielle Zandstra. But after the game got going, we found out that our girls weren't intimidated. She often started at the high post, so Becca or Alyssa would pick her up there and slow her down as tried to drop down into the low post. This didn't mean the girls stopped her. She still got her points, just not as many as we thought she might. Anyway, because of some outside shooting by Alyssa and Kara, and some down-low work by Becca, the girls only trailed 13-9 at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter was more of a defensive quarter, as Danielle was on the bench and Heritage worked the ball around the perimeter more, waiting for an open shot. Our girls only got four in the quarter, on a basket and two free throws. Heritage got six, so the score at the half was Heritage, 19-13.
The girls struggled in the third quarter. Heritage started defending the one play the girls had practiced, so there were a lot of turnovers as the girls hadn't had a chance to practice any other plays. Danielle was back in, and she played well. The scoring in the third quarter was 10-3 in favor of Heritage, and the cumulative score was 29-16.
Because of the troubles the girls were having in getting the play to work, Coach Boss called what was essentially a clear-out play, with the four other girls clearing out of the lane to let Kara try to beat the one defender on her (because of the play the girls had run earlier, Heritage was playing what amounted to a 1-2-2 defense, with only one girl on the top of the defense). He also changed the defense to a three-quarter court man-to-man press. Both of these paid off somewhat, but the deficit was too large to make up. The Patriots "won" the fourth quarter, 13-11, but lost the game, 40-29. Overall assessment: the girls looked pretty good, especially having only a few practices.
Key stats were: Kara led in scoring with 16, while Becca had 6, Alyssa had a three, and Lee and Carolyn each had a basket. This was Carolyn's first career basket. Way to go, Carolyn! Becca had five rebounds and three blocks and Kara had three assists and six steals. On the negative side, four girls had four or more turnovers.
The guys then took on what was the Heritage JV boys team. The boys also had very little time to install plays, and a couple of key players were not able to make one or both of the practices in which these plays were practiced. The lack of practice was very obvious early on, as the game started badly for the Patriots. Ball-handling was a problem for the guys, which led to a lot of turnovers. Because lack of practice, the guys were trying to remember what they were to do instead of doing them instinctively. All of this resulted in a 15-3 first quarter deficit and 22-5 at halftime.
Justin VanderPloeg was put in the in the third quarter and seemed to provide a spark. The guys played a little better defense and were only outscored 6-3 in the quarter, but that still meant they were down 29-8 at the end of that quarter.
Heritage seemed to get more comfortable with their game by the time the fourth quarter rolled around, and they started attacking the basket. Our guys were on their heels, the ball-handling was only marginally better, and we had trouble shooting. Heritage outscored HSRC 17-4 in the quarter, and the final was 46-12.
Justin VanderPloeg led in scoring with four on two field goals, while Jimi Dill and Dustin Vail had three each, Jimi on a three, and Dustin with a two and a free throw. Luke Lorenz rounded out the scoring with a basket he got a on nice offensive rebound and put-back. Justin had eight rebounds and Luke L. had seven. Those two also each had an assist, while Luke L. had two steals. Jimi had two blocks.
Next games are the guys at Hinsdale Adventist Academy Monday at 4:30, and the girls against Calumet at Lincoln Center in Highland Friday. Schedules and game locations are at the bottom of the page.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Welcome to the new blog
Welcome to the HSRC blog, devoted exclusively to HSRC sports.
The old blog will remain for Calumet sports, but since the audience for each is quite different, it didn't make sense to overlap it.
So here we are.
The first post will follow shortly, about the opening games against the Heritage Christian High Defenders.
The old blog will remain for Calumet sports, but since the audience for each is quite different, it didn't make sense to overlap it.
So here we are.
The first post will follow shortly, about the opening games against the Heritage Christian High Defenders.
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