Three in two

Once again the HSRC basketball program squeezed three games into two days, as both teams played Illinois Lutheran on Wednesday and the girls played Hinsdale Adventist Academy tonight.

Last year the girls lost a tough game to IL's JV team 22-17. The girls have been winning a lot of the games that were close losses last year, so they thought they might have a good chance in this one. And that's the way the game started. The girls played their usual tough defense, holding IL to one basket in the quarter. IL was not shy about putting it up - the one that went in was one of fourteen they attempted. Even though IL played good defense too, Kara put in a three to go with Becca's two baskets to give HSRC a 7-2 lead at the end of one. In the second, IL tightened up their defense even more. HSRC was limited to one basket by Kara and a free throw by Alyssa. The Patriots repeated their defensive performance of the first quarter in the second. IL put up seventeen shots in the quarter, but only made one. 10-4 Patriots at half.

The third quarter saw even fiercer defense by IL, holding the Patriots to one point, a free throw by Becca. IL started shooting a little better too, scoring three baskets to pull them to within one at the end of three, 11-10.
HSRC finally started to figure out how to get the ball inside to Rachel in the fourth. She scored four points to go with a pair of clutch free throws by Kara and one by Becca. Meanwhile, number 23 got some shots to fall herself, scoring four. Another teammate made a field goal, and another added a free throw. The two teams were even for the quarter at six each. The Patriots held off IL at the end of the game after IL's last basket pulled them to within one, hanging on for an 18-17 victory. IL looked kind of like us last year and a little this year, as they launched every open shot they got inside of twenty-two feet, and didn't make too many. Kara led in scoring with seven, Becca had six, Rachel four and Alyssa one. Becca had eleven rebounds and seven block, six in the first quarter. Alyssa had three assists and Kara got seven steals.

The boys faced a very skilled IL JV team next. As the game played out, we found that they were deadly shooters and aggressive defenders. We also found out that we need some remedial work on free throws. We shot poorly when we did shoot, while IL shot nearly fifty percent from the field, and exactly fifty percent from the arc (6 for 12). They also made eight of thirteen from the line. The Patriots gave new meaning to the term "foul" line, as they shot three for eighteen, just a hair better than they shot from the field (5 for 32). It was only an eighteen-point game at the half, and while the IL coach did substitute liberally in the second half, apparently he forgot to tell his team that throwing up threes and full-court pressing with a large second-half lead isn't real good sportsmanship. Of course, if we made some free throws it wouldn't have been so bad, but as it was, the guys were outscored 30-7 in the second half for a 54-13 loss. Justin led in scoring with four. Jimi added three and Luke L, Steve, and Dustin had two each. Justin seven rebounds and Steve had three steals.

Tonight's game was against a team that blew us out twice last year, Hinsdale Adventist Academy. Thankfully they graduated a couple of their players. Our girls are also better than last year, so we were curious to see how the teams matched up. It didn't take long to see that the teams were much more evenly matched this year. Both teams played solid defense. HAA scored the first bucket, but Kara knocked down a middle-range jumper to tie it up. HAA got one from the line, then the teams started exchanging baskets. Alyssa got two baskets in the quarter and the Patriots led, 6-5. The second quarter was similar. Kara got a basket from the outside and two on steals and layups. Becca got a shot to fall. On the HAA side, #33 made a nice three and #13 made two inside. The Patriots added one more to the lead and the score at the half was 14-12.

HAA scored the first basket in the third. Then Kara was successful on a three and Rachel made a short one, and the lead was five. #33 got free on the outside again though, and made another nice three. HAA got one more before the quarter was over and it was tied at 19 at the end of the third. Lee made a three to start the fourth; she has many that were close earlier in the game, but didn't go down. Becca made a free throw to push the lead to four, but after a couple of  free throws and a field goal by #15, it was tied. The girls got the ball back with thirty seconds, and after an attempt by Alyssa, they got the offensive rebound and called timeout with 3.6 seconds left. Kara's shot out the timeout was blocked, and the girls headed to their second overtime of the season. HSRC scored first, but HAA tied it up with two free throws. After a couple of missed shots on both sides, Lee got fouled. HAA had ten fouls, so HSRC was in the double bonus - two free throw attempts. Lee was only three for seventeen from the line this year. First attempt - right through. Second attempt - spun around and around and down. Two point lead. The Patriots got it back soon via turnover. Then Kara was fouled. She knocked down both for a four-point lead. HAA missed a shot, got it back, then turned it over. HSRC dribbled out the clock for the victory, 29-25.

Scoring was as follows: Kara - 15, Lee - 5, Alyssa - 4, Becca - 3, Rachel - 2.  Rachel had nine rebounds, Kara had three assists, and Kara and Lee each had four steals. The girls are now 7-6 on the season.

The boys now have a long break until their next game, against Grace on Monday, February 1. The varsity girls will play next Friday (January 29) against Victory in Valparaiso. Next Monday, the junior high girls will play a scrimmage against Glenwood School for Boys and Girls at Balmoral (Wow, sort of a home game) at 6:30.