More learning experiences

Both the boys and girls were engaged last night in Oak Lawn against the Torchmen of Southside Baptist, and both went down to defeat, the girls losing 30-17 and the boys 57-30.

Last year the the girls beat Southside twice, the first time by eight and the second by thirteen.We knew we were quite a different team that last year. Southside was also quite a bit different, having lost several girls themselves. The difference in the game turned out to be one of their girls that didn't graduate - #15, Na'Kya Latting. Only a sophomore, she was their best ball handler, shooter and defender. In the first quarter she set the tone. She made all four of her shots, got several rebounds from the guard position and dished the ball off for her teammates. There seemed to be a lid on our basket in the quarter. Twelve shots went up for us, and twelve did not go through the rim. Besides the eight scored by Latting, ten more were scored by Southside and it was 18-0 after one quarter. Late in the quarter Holly came in for Corinne, who wasn't fully recovered from being sick.

Southside played a lot of their bench in the second, but our girls also started playing more confidently. The lid on the basket remained, however. Shorly before halftime Cassidy finally got one to go, and with the tough defense and the weaker play from Southside's bench, they also only got two and the lead remained at eighteen at halftime.

We kept firing it in the second, and this time two went in, one of which was a three. The defense remained strong, only giving up two points again, and the lead was cut to fifteen. Southside put most of the starters back in to begin the fourth, but that didn't stop our shots from falling. The girls scored more baskets in the fourth, four, than they had the first three quarters. Cassidy made two two-pointers and one more three and Corinne added a three in the quarter. Southside's starters were much more proficient than their bench offensively, but the Patriots held them to eight.

Cassidy got all the points in the game except for the three by Corinne. Corinne and Carolyn led in rebounding with seven each. Hannah had two assists to go with two blocks. Cassidy had five steals and Holly had four.

The boys started a bit better than the girls, but still put themselves in a hole to being the game, starting with an easy Southside basket off the tip. The guys were a little tight to begin, showing their rust from not playing for ten days. Jimi was the only one to score in the first, while Southside got eleven. We started getting more shots off, but they still rarely went in. Justin, Stan, and Luke L. each got a basket, but it took fifteen shots to get them. Southide scored at about the same pace, and their lead was 24-8 at half.

In the second half, the Patriots started running their offense more effectively. Justin started getting open at the elbow. Luke L. continued to hit the boards. The guys shot 4-for-12, after shooting 4-for-27 in the first half. Southside maintained their scoring pace, getting twelve in the quarter to stretch the lead to twenty after three. HSRC had gone to a man-to-man in the third, and Southside started to exploit it in the fourth. Our guys had not had the practice time to effectively learn to help in that defense, and Southside got many easy baskets in the quarter. They were also patient, only taking good shots, while our guys couldn't afford that luxury, needing to make up the deficit. So while our scoring picked up (we got fourteen), we gave up a lot of points - 21 to be exact, resulting in the final deficit of 27.

Scoring was pretty balance for the Patriots. Justin scored seven, Luke L. six, Michael five, and Jimi and Stan four. Justin led the team with seven rebounds. Luke L., Michael and Sam each got two steals. Luke L. added two blocks to his stat line.

Our busy week continues tomorrow. We have three boys' games against Calumet, beginning with a junior high game at 4:30. JV follows at 5:30 and the varsity boys finish the night with a game beginning at 7. The games are at the Lincoln Center in Highland, Indiana. See you there.