Back to it

We had a flurry of games the last two days - both the boys and girls played Crossroads on Monday, a home school group from the far western suburbs, and the girls played Southside Baptist, a school in Oak Lawn tonight.

The girls had played Crossroads the last two years. The first year we had a program, we played both their JV team and their varsity team. We beat their JV team (which they don't have this year) by 4 and lost to their varsity by 24. Last year we only played their varsity who beat us 48-20. The two quarters their starters played the score was 37-4. We knew we were better, but didn't have any idea about how Crossroads was - who graduated, who left, who they brought up.

So the game started, and it looked like it was going to be a continuation of last year. Before we were settled into our well-cushioned folding chairs, it was 9-0, Crossroads. Finally Lee hit a three, and our defense tightened up a bit. Crossroads scored no more in the quarter, so the Patriots were down by six after one. I the second, the Patriots really cranked up the defense. They only allowed seven field goal attempts, of which the Crusaders made two, the last one just before the halftime buzzer, which was a little discouraging. Meanwhile, we were flinging it up pretty regularly. Problem was that we also only made two. We made two free throws (out of seven attempts) while Crossroads got one (out of six). The reason for all the free throws was that...actual reach-in fouls were called! And the calls were pretty balanced! What a concept! For an entire half! Halftime score: 14-9, Crossroads.

So what happens to open the third? Four straight free throws by Crossroads, all of which they made. They had three more unsuccessful attempts the remainder of the quarter. They were only one for eight from the field in the quarter, but that was enough, because our girls' shooting woes continued. We were one for eleven in the quarter, and since the reffing became more like what we were used to, we only had two free throw attempts. Neither went in. To be fair to the refs, our girls were sluggish in the second half, so too much defense was being played with their arms rather than the feet. However, most of the borderline calls were going Crossroads' way. The Patriots trailed 20-11 at the end of three. Our shooting didn't get any better in the fourth, though we did get a lot of attempts. The Patriots were two of fourteen of the quarter, scoring only those four points. Crossroads got three more free throws in the fourth, but didn't make any. They also got two field goals, so the final was 24-15.

Rachel led in scoring with five; Kara and Lee had three while Alyssa and Becca had two each. Becca led (as usual) in rebounding with fourteen and Rachel added eight. Kara had nine steals but ten turnovers. She also had four assists. Rachel and Becca had two blocks apiece.

Now, on to the boys. We were playing Crossroads' JV team, but as is the case with many of these small organizations, there was some overlap of varsity and JV. Apparently the boys were taking notes from the girls on how to start the game, because very quickly they were losing 14-0. The Patriots finally figured out how to get the ball inside to Justin, and Justin figured out how to get the short shot to go down. He got four while Crossroads scored one more basket, which made the score 16-4 after one. Six of Crossroads' points were by #44, who was a big strong inside player. Seven were by #40, their point guard. Quite a combo. The second quarter was similar to the first, at least in the score. The difference was that Crossoads started going to the line. A lot. They had eleven attempts in the quarter, making seven, while we made one of the two we were able to take. Justin got one and Dustin got his first basket of the game in the quarter, but Crossroads got five baskets in the quarter to go with their free throws, giving them seventeen for the quarter, and giving them a 33-9 lead at the half.

And then something happened. I'm not sure what. I'm still trying to figure it out. The guys shot six of nine in the third quarter. They made both of their free throws. The Patriots held the Crusaders to one of fourteen shooting. Yes, you read that right. I didn't get it backwards. Luke Lorenz got things going underneath. Justin continued his close-in work. And Steve Bianchi, making his season debut, dropped in a three. Crazy as it sounds, the guys outscored Crossroads 15-3 in the quarter to pull within twelve, to make it a game. The fourth quarter started with both teams missing a lot. We seemed to have lost the offensive magic, but the defensive intensity remained. The gap remained about the same until midway through the quarter, when it was 43-30. Crossroads started to pull away at that point, scoring the last eight points of the game to make the final 51-30. All in all, the guys' best game of the year. (And imagine how well we would have done if we played five at a time the whole game ;-). )

Justin was the player of the game, with seventeen points, fourteen rebounds and four steals. Luke Lorenz chipped in with six points and seven rebounds, to go with three blocks and a steal. Luke Dorn had three steals. Dustin made two shots from the field and Steve got four assists and two steals to go with his one three-ball.

Next game for the girls was Southside, which they played earlier this evening.  This was a back-and-forth affair through the first three quarters. This was an interesting game, in that it was played in Southside's tiny gym. The court is at least ten feet narrower than regulation and ten feet shorter. The narrow court precluded the Patriots from running their plays well, which rely on spacing. It also made playing defense easier, with less ground to cover. This resulted in a lot of turnovers. I don't know how many Southside had through three, but we did have twenty-three steals. We also had twenty-five turnovers at that point, though. Because of the small court/smothering defense, and perhaps because of the shooting slump we've had the last few games, we didn't shoot well also. After leading after one by one, 9-8, the girls relinquished the lead in the second, and went into the half trailing 16-15. Southside's little point guard got things going for them in the third, while our girls made a little hay from the free throw line in the quarter (three made). But Southside outscored the Patriots 9-7 in the quarter to take a three point lead going into the fourth.

The fourth quarter for the girls almost matched the third quarter of the boys' game from the night before. Our shooting percentage wasn't that good, six for nineteen, but much better than it had been, and much better than Southside's - zero for thirteen. Kara and Alyssa were hitting outside and Becca inside. Southside's entire offensive output in the quarter was one free throw. They got that after we had scored the first ten points on the quarter. The girls scored one more basket to top off a 34-26 victory.

Rachel, who scored all of her points in the first three quarters, led in scoring with eleven. Rest of the scoring was Kara with nine, Becca with eight, Alyssa with four and Lee with two. Team shooting (25.9%) was better than last night, but that's not saying much. There were a lot of turnovers in relation to shots attempted, so steals were big while rebounds were lower than usual. Becca and Rachel had six rebounds each; Lee and Alyssa, five. Kara led with seven steals with Becca right behind with six. Kara had six assists. Lee, of all people, shared blocking honors with Rachel with two each.

Girls at 6 and guys at 7:30 on Friday against Brentwood. Again, check the map and calendar at the bottom of the page for details. Thanks to all those following the team and cheering them on. Please come out on Friday to support your teams.