One bright spot in a couple of tough nights

The Patriots are two-thirds of the way through an intensive weekend of basketball, and so far are 1-5. The lone win was a dominating performance by the junior high team against Calumet last night. The final was 27-14, but that was only because the starters didn't play much in the fourth quarter. We led Calumet by 21 entering the fourth, but Calumet outscored us 10-2 in that quarter.

Alas, but all the other games were losses, most of them not close. On Thursday the junior high and girls' team traveled to Hinsdale to play Hinsdale Adventist Academy. The guys played tough the first quarter, only trailing 6-4, but then HAA's depth and height started to wear us down, and they shut us down in the second quarter while scoring twelve. The third quarter was a little better, as Adam and Devon managed a basket each, but we still had trouble holding down HAA. They scored ten in the quarter to make it 28-8 entering the fourth. The last quarter was similar to the previous two. We only managed to get off five shots, making none as we had trouble rebounding and holding on to the ball. We did score three from the free throw line. Hinsdale kept up their steady pace and scored eight to make the final 36-11. Adam had six points and six rebounds, and Devon had three steals.

The girls finally got back to it after a long layoff. We had beaten HAA last year in overtime, so we knew they had a pretty good program. Their leading scorer had graduated, but the rest of their top players were back, plus they had an influx of new students this year, three of whom joined the girls' basketball team. The game started with HAA jumping out to the early lead. HSRC got baskets from Rachel inside and a put-back by Carolyn, but HAA scored eight in the quarter. Rachel made some nice moves down low in the second, scoring on three of five attempts, while also making one free throw. That was all of the team's output, however, and HAA matched their total from the first quarter, so the deficit was five at half. Rachel continued to be our only scorer in the third, but the team had trouble getting it in to her as HAA clogged up the middle. They were also picking up Cassidy outside her shooting range, and the outside shots from her teammates were not falling. Meanwhile, HAA was getting baskets from several different players, and scored twelve in the quarter to our two (Rachel). The pattern continued into the fourth. Our girls started shooting threes in an attempt to catch up, but only one of Corinne's went in. Rachel got one more inside but that was it. HAA scored seven, and the final was HAA 35, HSRC 18. Free throw shooting continued to be a problem. HSRC shot one-for-seven in the game. Rachel led with thirteen points and ten rebounds. She and Holly led the team with two steals apiece.

Last night it was Calumet. The boys' teams had played CCS in the last weekend of play in 2010 and had come away with a junior high win and JV and varsity losses. As earlier noted, the junior high team picked up another win at CCS's expense, this time more convincingly. Devon, Henry and Trevor each scored six in the game, while Adam got four in limited playing time. Adam led the team with six rebounds. Devon grabbed seven steals while Trevor got six.

The JV had their third game of the year, and it was their closest. Last time they played CCS, they lost by ten. This time the deficit was six, but the game was not decided until the last couple of minutes. It didn't look like it was going to be close at first. We couldn't stop their number three, and he got seven. HSRC had difficulty solving CCS's defense, so we settled for outside shots that did not fall. CCS led 13-2 at the end of one. Coach Boss changed the defense, and the guys started shutting down CCS in the second. HSRC only allowed four points while four different players of ours scored baskets, including a three by Ben. Stan and Nate scored inside, and Luke also added a bucket. Coach Boss inserted Lucas into the lineup in the second half, and he and Nate scored four each in the third. Stan got one and Ben added a freethrow. Meanwhile, the defense continued its good play, only giving up four again, and we took the lead by one entering the fourth. However, except for a couple of nice inside baskets by Nate and a shot by Lucas, our offense was non-existent except from the free throw line, where we scored five. HSRC dropped behind and had to foul, so CCS also went to the free throw line a lot in the fourth, scoring seven from there to go with their five baskets. Final was CCS 38, HSRC 32. One notable stat was blocks - Nate had six, and none were just tipped. Nate also led with twelve points while Adam was the team leader in rebounds with ten. Stan had three assists and two steals.

Last and least, at least in regards to outcome, was the varsity game against CCS. We had lost by forty to them the first time we played, and the deficit was the same last night. The guys had trouble running the plays they had practiced in the face of the aggressive CCS defense, and we soundly beaten on the boards. Our defense was sluggish, while CCS played hard and efficiently on offense. The deficit was fourteen at the end of one, 21 at half, and thirty at the end of three. The final was 64-24. Justin led with seven points and twelve rebounds and Jimi added two assists and three blocks.

Our first home game of the season is tonight. This is also the first home game ever for the boys' teams. Three years ago we hosted a couple of girls games at Elim Christian School, but we have not had any since. Please come out and make it a home game atmosphere. Looking forward to seeing you there. Also a note: the game schedule shows the games at 4, 5:15 and 6:30 but the last email indicated that the start times would be 4, 5, and 6. The games will immediately follow the preceding one, so the game times are approximate. If you are just coming out for one of the later games, plan on the earlier times just in case.