I guess this is turning into a weekly update. Hopefully after the new year I can past more often. Don't hold your breath, though.
Monday the elementary and junior high teams played at Cornerstone Christian in South Chicago Heights. We have played them regularly in soccer, but have declined their invitations to play basketball because we had heard that the played at a very high level. This year, however, they asked again and told us that they were rebuilding this year. Rebuilding, they said.
The elementary team took the floor with someone connected to the school reffing because the refs hadn't shown up fifteen minutes past the start time. We really couldn't anything going offensively, as has been the case in most of our games, the opponents were much bigger than us. At the end of the first quarter Cornerstone was ahead 9-2, with Joel getting our only points. We slowed them a little in the second, giving up only four, but we missed all seven of our shots. Finally in the third, Brian started driving and getting to the basket. He made three of his five shots and both free throws to account for all eight points for HSRC in the quarter. Cornerstone was limited to five so the Patriots were only down eight heading into the fourth. Brian and Joel each scored in the fourth, but that was all the points they could manage. Meanwhile, Cornerstone scored five to give them the 23-14 victory. Brian scored ten for the highest point total for the younger guys this year.
The junior high was worse. Much worse. We turned the ball over most of the times we had possession in the first quarter and ended up trailing 19-0 after one quarter. We only got off three field goal attempts (to Cornerstone's eighteen) and two free throws and missed all of them. Cornerstone subbed liberally in the second Mark broke the scoring drought with a basket to open the quarter and the Patriots were able to outscore Cornerstone's bench 8-6 in the second. A couple of starters were put back in to start the third. Not many shots were taken by either squad but Cornerstone shot 57% in outscoring our guys 9-4 to end any hope we had of getting back into it. The fourth saw both teams shoot poorly with only six points scored, four by Cornerstone and the game ended 38-14. Henry led in scoring with five.
The next night, Tuesday, we went out to New Lenox to play the Community Christian Panthers. Last year the junior high struggled against CCS but the varsity dominated. This year was a repeat. The junior high Panthers pressed as the did last year and as we did last year, we couldn't hold onto the ball. Both teams shot around 40% in the first, but CCS got off twelve shots to our five. The major concern was that Henry got into foul trouble and had to sit until the second half. In the second, Community's shooting cooled off but so did ours. Caleb made our only basket while CCS was scoring eight to give them a 20-7 halftime lead. Our offense got even worse against the man-to-man defense in the third - we only managed a free throw by Henry. However, our defense was a little better, as the Panthers were held to four. Our outside shooting finally heated up in the fourth, with both Matt and Caleb hitting two baskets. Matt's two foul shots round out our scoring. Even with the relative outburst, we still were outscored in the quarter, 12-10. Final score: Community Christian 36, HSRC 18.
As has happened in a couple of earlier games, the varsity took a little bit to get their defense working properly. An obviously outmanned CCS team scored the first two basket, but then the Patriots began imposing their will. Nate was fouled and hit both shots, then scored again, this time from the field. Steal after steal led to basket after basket. Or free throws. The quarter ended with the Patriots having scored fourteen straight. They picked up where the left off in the second. By the time the Panthers final scored, the Patriots had scored twenty-four in a row. The half ended with a basket from Josh to give HSRC a 30-10 halftime lead. Coach substituted early in the second half and Community put the pressure on to take advantage. The lead did get as high as twenty-six at 43-17, but the pressure paid off with Community finishing the quarter on a 13-4 run. Kyle and Josh made sure that CCS wasn't going to come back, scoring seven between them to CCS's two. CCS, even with the press, couldn't make too much headway. The teams ended up even in scoring for the quarter, sixteen apiece, to make the final 63-46, HSRC. Kyle had a big game, scoring 22, pulling down nine boards, dishing four assists and grabbing six steals.
The two younger teams played right away again the next night. The opponent was Calvin Christian of South Holland. The elementary guys started off with a bang, ending the quarter with a 8-0 lead. Calvin played pretty tentatively in the first, but came out much stronger on defense in the second, and we began turning the ball over. Calvin had nineteen attempts to our seven. Thankfully they only made two. We solved the pressure a little bit as far as ball-handling, but not with our shooting. Again we missed all of our shots. Meanwhile Calvin made four plus a free throw and surged into the lead 13-8. Brian and Joel broke through in the fourth, but with only one bucket each even though they got off a lot of shots. Calvin scored five and the final was 18-12. Brian, Nate and Joel each had four points in the game.
The junior high game was the toughest of the week, and not just because we were missing Will. We were smaller, slower and less aggressive than Calvin the whole game. Turnovers and bad shooting hurt us yet again. Calvin led 11-2 after one and didn't slow down. It was 24-4 at the half. Henry started going to the foul line which helped us score six in the third quarter, but Calvin didn't slow down scoring eleven again. Henry scored the only points in the fourth, two from the the free throw line. The final was 39-12, our worst loss of the year. Henry finished with six.
Yesterday the varsity team played in the inaugural Channahon Shootout. This was originally going to be a bigger tournament, but teams kept dropping out, leaving only three - us, Families of Faith Christian Academy, and Glory to God. FOFCA beat GTG in the first game. For some strange reason, a GTG player left after that game. The hosts requested that we play them with a couple of FOFCA bench players playing so they didn't have to forfeit. We found out later that yet another player from GTG refused to play so the team was three of their own players and three FOFCA bench /junior high players. Coach Boss played his four bench players and rotated the starters in the other position, but it was no contest. Even with our guys playing a pretty passive zone, GTG could not get shots to fall. Our bench guys scored pretty consistently, building the lead from 13-0 at the end of one to 23-2 at halftime, 35-2 at the end of three and ending at 45-4. Josh scored ten in a little more than a quarter, while Caleb had nine, and Peter, Jonathan and Stan had eight each.
The last game was the championship game against Families of Faith. Coach was a little concerned because the Eagles played pretty well against the press the last time we played them and our kept our offense pretty stagnant. Well, the offense was clicking pretty good from the outset. FOFCA began fouling early, unable to stop the Patriots otherwise. Kyle had nine in the quarter, five from the charity stripe, of the 21 the Patriots scored. On the other end of the court, the defense was just fine, holding the Eagle to eight. The defense stayed consistant in the second, while the our shooting went cold. It did stay hot enough to complete another big run straddling the first and second quarters, this time sixteen in a row. We ended up only hitting five of seventeen shots in the quarter. However, our eleven points were four more than FOFCA scored and the lead was seventeen at the half. The offense got back on track in the third. Going to the free throw line for seven attempts helped, but the shooting was solid too - eight for sixteen. The defense was still good, holding the Eagles to ten. The fourth was the craziest quarter of the year. FOFCA started playing frantically, full-court pressing and turning up the tempo. But they biggest thing they did was hit threes, especially Cody Blan. He hit a twenty-three footer to set the tone. By the time he was done, he had hit five in the quarter, including one that had to be close to thirty feet, and another he threw up with one hand while moving laterally. Josiah Blan and Stephen Bestler also each had one in the onslaught. Of course, with a thirty-one point deficit to make up, it was a lost cause, but they did end up outscoring us 25-9 in the quarter to make the final a respectable 65-50. Seth ended up with seventeen points with Kyle adding sixteen. Josh led with eleven rebounds. Lucas contributed six steals.
We go into the Christmas break with a 13-0 record and our first tournament championship. Overall, the second part of the season will be much tougher. We still have five conference games plus several non-conference games plus the Calumet tournament and the conference tournament. And hopefully some post season play :-).
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Battles
Ugly but effective.The first two games played by the varsity this week were tough slogs against some good defensive teams, albeit quite different in their styles. The last two were ugly in different ways. But all four were wins. At the junior high and elementary levels it was a tough week, with each team losing both of their contests.
Monday Luther East was our guests at Hidden Cove. The Eagles (yes, the Eagles again. Not a lot of variety in team mascots in the conference) came in without a win but had played a couple of conference teams tough. They always had a couple of talented players but not much depth, and that seems to be the case again this year. Coach Boss started out with the press, but LE's ball handler was too quick and talented, and he quickly abandoned it for the 2-3. The Patriots had a little trouble early with LE inside, even with the 2-3. After Lucas scored on a drive and Kyle hit a three, the Eagles got free inside for a pair of baskets. Kyle hit another three, but LE immediately matched it and then scored again to take the lead, 9-8, which they held at the end of the quarter. Lucas put the Patriots back into the lead when he hit a three to open the second. The teams exchanged baskets for a while, then Kyle and Seth wrapped threes around an Eagle basket to give HSRC a 19-15 lead at the half. The Patriots really had their 2-3 defense working in the third quarter. LE was held to a basket and a free throw, while HSRC started getting some inside baskets. When Kyle hit a basket to end the scoring for the quarter, the Patriots led 29-18. Nate scored to open the quarter, and the lead was never less than nine after that. Nate ended the scoring with a two, making the final 37-26. The Patriots only shot 32% from the field in the game. Kyle led with 13 points, Lucas had eight rebounds and Seth had seven assists.
All three teams played the next night in Valparaiso. We weren't sure if the first game would come off when half the team and the coach didn't show up until a few minutes past the scheduled game start time. Even though they did show up, the youngest Patriots were still short-handed with three of their players not there. We had a lot of trouble with their aggressive defense and shill hadn't scored at halftime, while VCA had 11. Joel finally got one to go in to open the second half scoring, but that was an aberration, as the Lions scored the next eight points. Joel and Brian each scored in the fourth but it wasn't nearly enough as the elementary team lost 21-6.
The junior high team was up next. Victory was the only team we beat last year, but they are vastly improved. Victory took the lead early and built it up steadily throughout the first half. Henry was able to score in the first, but that was our only score. Caleb and Matt hit shots in the second, but VCA added eight to the five they got in the first and the lead was 13-6 at halftime. It was more of the same in the third. We got one basket (Will); they scored six. We got a lot of shots off in the fourth (13) but only made one. VCA kept up their efficient play, scoring six again to give them the 25-10 win. Henry had four points in the loss.
Victory got the first basket in the varsity game, but the 2-0 lead didn't last long. Nate and Josh scored before Victory hit two free throws, the first of many for them. HSRC went on a 9-0 run at that point, capped by a three from Seth. VCA scored their first three which Nate followed by a free throw, then a basket a bit later. The Patriots opened the second with a 14-5 run, with every starter but Kyle contributing. VCA hit three free throws to stop the momentum a bit, but Kyle then joined the fun, scoring the last four of the half to give HSRC its largest lead of the game at 34-15. All this in spite the eight fouls called against the Patriots compared to the three charged to VCA. The third quarter was a slog. The foul imbalance continued, this time with our guys being called for offensive fouls. The defense was stout so neither team could get much going. The lead was still nineteen at the end of the third. The Patriot defense relaxed a bit in the fourth, but the lead never got smaller that twelve. At that point the Lions began fouling in attempt to get back into the game. While the Patriots didn't shoot well from the line, the scored enough from the field to keep it even for the quarter. HSRC scored the last seven and the victory margin was nineteen, 55-36. Kyle led with sixteen points. Nate added twelve rebounds, five assists and three blocks. Kyle also had four steals.
The elementary and junior high team had games on Thursday against Glenwood. The young guys, again playing with makeshift roster, nevertheless at one point had a 10-2 lead. This was early in the third. Glenwood had scored first for the only scoring in the first quarter, but David got hot in the second, scoring eight of the Patriots's ten in the quarter, hitting uncontested fifteen-footer after uncontested fifteen-footer. Joel also scored. The Wildcats made adjustments at half and guarded David closely in the second half. Meanwhile their #0 began making shots. Glenwood pulled to within one after three, and then hit the only two buckets in the fourth. We missed all nine of our shots, including several desparate threes at the end of the quarter. Final score: 13-10. As mentioned, David had eight of the ten points.
Glenwood's junior high team was big, fast and athletic. Despite the visual differences between the two teams, we kept it close through one quarter. The Wildcats jumped out to a 9-0 lead, but just when it looked like it might get really ugly, Caleb hit a baseline jumper, then Matt on the next possession hit a three, so the quarter ended with the Patriots down only 9-5. The second quarter, however, saw a lot of turnovers and shots emphatically blocked. Their star, #10, kept up the scoring. He got seven of their eleven in the quarter. We only scored one basket, by Henry, so the lead was 20-7, Glenwood at the half. #10 didn't play in the third and we were able to hold them scoreless in the third. Our shooting didn't improve and we were only able to score two, a basket by Caleb. #10 was back in the game to open the fourth and he scored four early to end any hope we had of coming back. Each team scored once more, but that was it and Glenwood won 26-11. Caleb was leading scorer with six. He also had ten rebounds and four steals.
I was not able to be at the varsity games on Saturday. I can report that the varsity team remains undefeated. When these games were scheduled last fall, the opponents were supposed to be First Baptist of Mishawaka and Granger Christian. After FBM wasn't able to reopen this fall, FOFCA did their best to find an opponent to replace them. A new team, Glory to God out of Morris, IL agreed to be the replacement team. After some uncertainty on whether the games would come off, they finally did. GTG was to be our first opponent. We would be playing with seven, while they only had five. We were short because Stan was ill and Caleb had a family obligation. Also, Seth was not feeling well and had some nagging injuries. That evened things up a bit with GTG, but we still had too much firepower. With the starters in but playing a pretty passive 2-3, the Patriots went up 18-7 after one quarter. Jonathan and Peter then came in and played the rest of the way. GTG managed only one three in the second. HSRC scored thirteen to make it a 31-10 game at half. The lead grew in third but not as fast, as GTG hit a couple of threes while the Patriots were scoring eleven. From there the Patriots coasted to victory, 52-24.
Granger, the actual eastern division team was up next. They had some underclassman talent last year, and had gotten a couple of players from First Baptist. Coach Boss reported that they had a lot of talent, but not much cohesiveness nor composure. We did jump out to a first quarter 13-6 lead, but also got into some foul trouble. Lucas had to sit in the second due to three fouls, and Granger took advantage. Three threes plus three free throws and a two-pointer were made by Granger, while our guys had trouble getting shots off. Granger actually took a one-point lead at the half. The third quarter was very sloppy for both teams. We shot 30% in the quarter; thankfully Granger shot 8.3%. Granger did get more shots off but made only one, while HSRC made three. Granger added a free throw to complete their scoring for the quarter which ended up with HSRC leading, 25-23. The fourth quarter was chaotic. After the Patriots stretched the lead a bit, Granger tried to press, which our guys broke pretty easily. Then they resorted to fouling. When it was over, HSRC had shot twelve free throws, making nine. They also shot 73% from the field. All this added up to 25 points. Granger, while a little more productive, only managed eleven and the game turned into a blowout, with the Patriots on top 50-34. Seth was the leading scoring, netting 18 and Kyle added 15. I don't have the other stats yet.
One more semi-busy week before Christmas: Tuesday against Community Christian at New Life Church in New Lenox on Tuesday, and the Channahon Shoot-Out on Saturday.
Monday Luther East was our guests at Hidden Cove. The Eagles (yes, the Eagles again. Not a lot of variety in team mascots in the conference) came in without a win but had played a couple of conference teams tough. They always had a couple of talented players but not much depth, and that seems to be the case again this year. Coach Boss started out with the press, but LE's ball handler was too quick and talented, and he quickly abandoned it for the 2-3. The Patriots had a little trouble early with LE inside, even with the 2-3. After Lucas scored on a drive and Kyle hit a three, the Eagles got free inside for a pair of baskets. Kyle hit another three, but LE immediately matched it and then scored again to take the lead, 9-8, which they held at the end of the quarter. Lucas put the Patriots back into the lead when he hit a three to open the second. The teams exchanged baskets for a while, then Kyle and Seth wrapped threes around an Eagle basket to give HSRC a 19-15 lead at the half. The Patriots really had their 2-3 defense working in the third quarter. LE was held to a basket and a free throw, while HSRC started getting some inside baskets. When Kyle hit a basket to end the scoring for the quarter, the Patriots led 29-18. Nate scored to open the quarter, and the lead was never less than nine after that. Nate ended the scoring with a two, making the final 37-26. The Patriots only shot 32% from the field in the game. Kyle led with 13 points, Lucas had eight rebounds and Seth had seven assists.
All three teams played the next night in Valparaiso. We weren't sure if the first game would come off when half the team and the coach didn't show up until a few minutes past the scheduled game start time. Even though they did show up, the youngest Patriots were still short-handed with three of their players not there. We had a lot of trouble with their aggressive defense and shill hadn't scored at halftime, while VCA had 11. Joel finally got one to go in to open the second half scoring, but that was an aberration, as the Lions scored the next eight points. Joel and Brian each scored in the fourth but it wasn't nearly enough as the elementary team lost 21-6.
The junior high team was up next. Victory was the only team we beat last year, but they are vastly improved. Victory took the lead early and built it up steadily throughout the first half. Henry was able to score in the first, but that was our only score. Caleb and Matt hit shots in the second, but VCA added eight to the five they got in the first and the lead was 13-6 at halftime. It was more of the same in the third. We got one basket (Will); they scored six. We got a lot of shots off in the fourth (13) but only made one. VCA kept up their efficient play, scoring six again to give them the 25-10 win. Henry had four points in the loss.
Victory got the first basket in the varsity game, but the 2-0 lead didn't last long. Nate and Josh scored before Victory hit two free throws, the first of many for them. HSRC went on a 9-0 run at that point, capped by a three from Seth. VCA scored their first three which Nate followed by a free throw, then a basket a bit later. The Patriots opened the second with a 14-5 run, with every starter but Kyle contributing. VCA hit three free throws to stop the momentum a bit, but Kyle then joined the fun, scoring the last four of the half to give HSRC its largest lead of the game at 34-15. All this in spite the eight fouls called against the Patriots compared to the three charged to VCA. The third quarter was a slog. The foul imbalance continued, this time with our guys being called for offensive fouls. The defense was stout so neither team could get much going. The lead was still nineteen at the end of the third. The Patriot defense relaxed a bit in the fourth, but the lead never got smaller that twelve. At that point the Lions began fouling in attempt to get back into the game. While the Patriots didn't shoot well from the line, the scored enough from the field to keep it even for the quarter. HSRC scored the last seven and the victory margin was nineteen, 55-36. Kyle led with sixteen points. Nate added twelve rebounds, five assists and three blocks. Kyle also had four steals.
The elementary and junior high team had games on Thursday against Glenwood. The young guys, again playing with makeshift roster, nevertheless at one point had a 10-2 lead. This was early in the third. Glenwood had scored first for the only scoring in the first quarter, but David got hot in the second, scoring eight of the Patriots's ten in the quarter, hitting uncontested fifteen-footer after uncontested fifteen-footer. Joel also scored. The Wildcats made adjustments at half and guarded David closely in the second half. Meanwhile their #0 began making shots. Glenwood pulled to within one after three, and then hit the only two buckets in the fourth. We missed all nine of our shots, including several desparate threes at the end of the quarter. Final score: 13-10. As mentioned, David had eight of the ten points.
Glenwood's junior high team was big, fast and athletic. Despite the visual differences between the two teams, we kept it close through one quarter. The Wildcats jumped out to a 9-0 lead, but just when it looked like it might get really ugly, Caleb hit a baseline jumper, then Matt on the next possession hit a three, so the quarter ended with the Patriots down only 9-5. The second quarter, however, saw a lot of turnovers and shots emphatically blocked. Their star, #10, kept up the scoring. He got seven of their eleven in the quarter. We only scored one basket, by Henry, so the lead was 20-7, Glenwood at the half. #10 didn't play in the third and we were able to hold them scoreless in the third. Our shooting didn't improve and we were only able to score two, a basket by Caleb. #10 was back in the game to open the fourth and he scored four early to end any hope we had of coming back. Each team scored once more, but that was it and Glenwood won 26-11. Caleb was leading scorer with six. He also had ten rebounds and four steals.
I was not able to be at the varsity games on Saturday. I can report that the varsity team remains undefeated. When these games were scheduled last fall, the opponents were supposed to be First Baptist of Mishawaka and Granger Christian. After FBM wasn't able to reopen this fall, FOFCA did their best to find an opponent to replace them. A new team, Glory to God out of Morris, IL agreed to be the replacement team. After some uncertainty on whether the games would come off, they finally did. GTG was to be our first opponent. We would be playing with seven, while they only had five. We were short because Stan was ill and Caleb had a family obligation. Also, Seth was not feeling well and had some nagging injuries. That evened things up a bit with GTG, but we still had too much firepower. With the starters in but playing a pretty passive 2-3, the Patriots went up 18-7 after one quarter. Jonathan and Peter then came in and played the rest of the way. GTG managed only one three in the second. HSRC scored thirteen to make it a 31-10 game at half. The lead grew in third but not as fast, as GTG hit a couple of threes while the Patriots were scoring eleven. From there the Patriots coasted to victory, 52-24.
Granger, the actual eastern division team was up next. They had some underclassman talent last year, and had gotten a couple of players from First Baptist. Coach Boss reported that they had a lot of talent, but not much cohesiveness nor composure. We did jump out to a first quarter 13-6 lead, but also got into some foul trouble. Lucas had to sit in the second due to three fouls, and Granger took advantage. Three threes plus three free throws and a two-pointer were made by Granger, while our guys had trouble getting shots off. Granger actually took a one-point lead at the half. The third quarter was very sloppy for both teams. We shot 30% in the quarter; thankfully Granger shot 8.3%. Granger did get more shots off but made only one, while HSRC made three. Granger added a free throw to complete their scoring for the quarter which ended up with HSRC leading, 25-23. The fourth quarter was chaotic. After the Patriots stretched the lead a bit, Granger tried to press, which our guys broke pretty easily. Then they resorted to fouling. When it was over, HSRC had shot twelve free throws, making nine. They also shot 73% from the field. All this added up to 25 points. Granger, while a little more productive, only managed eleven and the game turned into a blowout, with the Patriots on top 50-34. Seth was the leading scoring, netting 18 and Kyle added 15. I don't have the other stats yet.
One more semi-busy week before Christmas: Tuesday against Community Christian at New Life Church in New Lenox on Tuesday, and the Channahon Shoot-Out on Saturday.
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Another packed week
Packed but successful. The varsity's record remained unblemished while the junior highers picked up their second win of the season.
The week's activity opened with junior high and varsity games against Families of Faith Academy at one of our many home gyms. It's sad that schools are stuck with the same gym game after home game, while we have home gyms scattered all over the south and southwest suburbs of Chicago. Sigh. Anyway, if it was December 3, then the home gym of the day was Hidden Cove in Bourbonnais. Our junior high guys were coming off of a couple of tough losses the week before which dropped their record to 1-3. Matt started us off strong with a three early in the first quarter. The Eagles hit a two-pointer to cut the lead to one. Henry got fouled on a drive just a bit later and hit one of two free throw. The quarter then turned into a miss-fest. We shot a lot, got a lot of offensive rebounds but couldn't get one to go through. The defense was pretty stout and kept FOFCA off the board as well. The second quarter was the Eagles'. They opened the scoring by splitting two free throw, then followed a Henry bucket with six straight points to end the half with a three-point lead, 9-6. FOFCA continued their momentum with a basket to start the scoring in the second half, but the pressure Henry was putting on the ball handler was starting to pay dividends. Matt and Henry each hit one of two free throw to cut lead back to three again. FOFCA scored once more but that would be it for them in the quarter. Matt hit another three and Henry hit another basket to tie the game in the quarter. The pressure defense really paid off in the fourth, as the Patriots outscored the Eagle 9-2 for a stretch in the quarter. The Patriots had five steals in the quarter to go with nine rebounds in the strong defensive effort. FOFCA hit a couple free throws late, but HSRC did a good job running the clock and finished with a solid 22-17 victory. Henry led in scoring with eleven, Matt adding seven and Caleb four. Caleb again dominated with twelve rebounds to which he added four steals. Henry and Mark each had three steals.
The varsity then took the floor. HSRC defeated FOFCA all four times they played last year, but the game were pretty competitive. In fact, the last time these two teams played, in the SSCC tournament, HSRC only led by two going into the fourth quarter before coming away with a ten-point victory. Seth opened things up with a quick basket, but their big man was fouled and hit two free throws. HSRC gave up some baskets because the half-court defense wasn't clicking, but the full-court press was and generated fast-break baskets. At 6-6, Kyle scored, then hit two free throws. FOFCA's point guard drilled a three before Seth closed out the quarter scoring with another layup. The defensive pressure continued into the second. Seth hit a basket, then after a stop was fouled and hit one of two. Kyle and Lucas followed that with scores to make it an eight-point game. The Eagles' talented freshman starter then scored inside and was fouled. He hit the free throw, but Kyle and Seth completed the first-half scoring with buckets to give HSRC its biggest lead, 23-14. FOFCA knocked down a three to open the scoring, but then Josh got going. He hit three straight baskets and when Seth hit a layup, the lead was fourteen. FOFCA scored inside to stop the streak, but HSRC scored nine of the last twelve points in the quarter to go up 40-22 heading into the last quarter. Lucas hit a basket and Kyle followed a free throw with a field goal to open the fourth and the game was pretty much over. Coach Boss began emptying his bench and FOFCA played a strong press, but all that did was bring the deficit down to eleven by the end of the game, 51-40. Seth had a big game with 22 on nine of thirteen shooting. Kyle had eleven and seven steals. Josh got another double-double with ten points and eleven rebounds, to which he added four blocks. Nate pulled down nine boards to go with his three blocks.
The next night it was Southside Baptist in their cozy gym. The Patriots beat the Torchmen twice last year, the second time by 24. HSRC's press in a gym that small is almost unfair. It took a bit for the guys to get going with it, however. Southside scored the first four points and then after Kyle scored twice, scored the next three. But like last game, when the defensive pressure starts working, a lot of easy baskets are generated. Seth again was ferocious at point, repeated stealing the ball and either scoring or hitting a teammate for an easy basket. His three was what started it, but when Josh hit the last basket of the quarter, the Patriots had a 15-1 run to go up eleven heading into the second. Substitutions and a reining in of the pressure kept the score pretty even in the second. Josh scored again to open the fourth, but after Stan answered a Southside basket with one of his own, Southside's offense started clicking a little, and they outscored the Patriots 7-3 down the stretch to cut the lead to 26-17 at the half. The pressure was reinstated to start the second half, and it was even more effective that it was in the first quarter. The Patriots scored the first fourteen points of the half. Southside hit a three for their only points in the quarter. HSRC finished with six more points to finish the 20-3 quarter and to give them a 46-20 lead going into the fourth. All the bench players played in the fourth, and they had trouble getting room to score in that little gym. Southside was more successful, but the 9-0 scoring advantage for the hosts was too little, too late and the Patriot were 5-0 after the 46-29 win. Seth was the double-double man of this game with sixteen points and ten steals. Josh's double-double streak ended as he scored eight and had six rebounds in limited playing time. Nate and Kyle also had six rebounds, while Kyle and Seth shared assist honors with four each.
Last night the Patriots went down to Kankakee to play the host Grace Crusaders. We defeated Grace three times last year, the first two pretty easily but the last one was a battle. That game was an eight-point win at the KTA tournament, where Grace did a good job neutralizing our inside game. Well, our inside game wasn't Grace's problem on Friday. Their problem was the same one faced by Southside and most of the teams HSRC has played this year - how to deal with that trapping defense. They certainly didn't figure it out in the first quarter. Seth opened the game with a three. Grace answered with a field goal but that was it for them in the quarter. Meanwhile the Patriots were racking up ten steals in the quarter which resulted in a lot of fast break points. Actually, when Grace could play half court defense, they weren't bad, but that didn't happen much in the first quarter. The scoring was balanced as the steals were coming deeper down the court, not as much from Seth's pressuring of the ball handler as it had been in the last couple of games. Josh had five, Nate and Kyle four and Seth that lone three to account for the Patriots' points in the 16-2 quarter. Grace settled down a bit in the second, while HSRC didn't play as much of that nasty defense. The result was an even quarter, both team scoring ten and each team taking turns scoring. Grace opened the scoring and then the lead went from fourteen to twelve to fourteen to twelve, etc., the rest of the quarter. Lucas, coming off the bench was the leading scorer with six on three from the field, the last of which went through as time expired. The third quarter looked like the first. Pressure defense, fast breaks, little scoring from Grace. When the dust had settled, HSRC had outscored the Crusaders 15-4 in the quarter and had scored the last seven points. The resulting twenty-five point lead meant the game was essentially over, and Coach Boss cleared the bench for the fourth. Caleb scored on a nice put-back in the quarter, and Peter scored for the first time this season, dropping through a three. Nate had the only other bucket for the Patriots, while Grace scored ten to trim the final margin to twenty-two, 48-26. Scoring was balanced, as Kyle led with 12, Josh nine, Nate and Lucas with eight and Seth with six. The team had twenty-three steals for the third game in a row; Kyle was the leader in that category with seven. Josh also had eleven rebounds.
If you thought this week was busy, just wait until next week. Luther East at Hidden Cove on Monday, then all three teams play at Victory on Tuesday. Thursday the elementary and junior high will play at Glenwood School, then the varsity close the week with two games on Saturday, Glory to God and Granger Christian. Keep checking the calendar and your emails for details and changes.
The week's activity opened with junior high and varsity games against Families of Faith Academy at one of our many home gyms. It's sad that schools are stuck with the same gym game after home game, while we have home gyms scattered all over the south and southwest suburbs of Chicago. Sigh. Anyway, if it was December 3, then the home gym of the day was Hidden Cove in Bourbonnais. Our junior high guys were coming off of a couple of tough losses the week before which dropped their record to 1-3. Matt started us off strong with a three early in the first quarter. The Eagles hit a two-pointer to cut the lead to one. Henry got fouled on a drive just a bit later and hit one of two free throw. The quarter then turned into a miss-fest. We shot a lot, got a lot of offensive rebounds but couldn't get one to go through. The defense was pretty stout and kept FOFCA off the board as well. The second quarter was the Eagles'. They opened the scoring by splitting two free throw, then followed a Henry bucket with six straight points to end the half with a three-point lead, 9-6. FOFCA continued their momentum with a basket to start the scoring in the second half, but the pressure Henry was putting on the ball handler was starting to pay dividends. Matt and Henry each hit one of two free throw to cut lead back to three again. FOFCA scored once more but that would be it for them in the quarter. Matt hit another three and Henry hit another basket to tie the game in the quarter. The pressure defense really paid off in the fourth, as the Patriots outscored the Eagle 9-2 for a stretch in the quarter. The Patriots had five steals in the quarter to go with nine rebounds in the strong defensive effort. FOFCA hit a couple free throws late, but HSRC did a good job running the clock and finished with a solid 22-17 victory. Henry led in scoring with eleven, Matt adding seven and Caleb four. Caleb again dominated with twelve rebounds to which he added four steals. Henry and Mark each had three steals.
The varsity then took the floor. HSRC defeated FOFCA all four times they played last year, but the game were pretty competitive. In fact, the last time these two teams played, in the SSCC tournament, HSRC only led by two going into the fourth quarter before coming away with a ten-point victory. Seth opened things up with a quick basket, but their big man was fouled and hit two free throws. HSRC gave up some baskets because the half-court defense wasn't clicking, but the full-court press was and generated fast-break baskets. At 6-6, Kyle scored, then hit two free throws. FOFCA's point guard drilled a three before Seth closed out the quarter scoring with another layup. The defensive pressure continued into the second. Seth hit a basket, then after a stop was fouled and hit one of two. Kyle and Lucas followed that with scores to make it an eight-point game. The Eagles' talented freshman starter then scored inside and was fouled. He hit the free throw, but Kyle and Seth completed the first-half scoring with buckets to give HSRC its biggest lead, 23-14. FOFCA knocked down a three to open the scoring, but then Josh got going. He hit three straight baskets and when Seth hit a layup, the lead was fourteen. FOFCA scored inside to stop the streak, but HSRC scored nine of the last twelve points in the quarter to go up 40-22 heading into the last quarter. Lucas hit a basket and Kyle followed a free throw with a field goal to open the fourth and the game was pretty much over. Coach Boss began emptying his bench and FOFCA played a strong press, but all that did was bring the deficit down to eleven by the end of the game, 51-40. Seth had a big game with 22 on nine of thirteen shooting. Kyle had eleven and seven steals. Josh got another double-double with ten points and eleven rebounds, to which he added four blocks. Nate pulled down nine boards to go with his three blocks.
The next night it was Southside Baptist in their cozy gym. The Patriots beat the Torchmen twice last year, the second time by 24. HSRC's press in a gym that small is almost unfair. It took a bit for the guys to get going with it, however. Southside scored the first four points and then after Kyle scored twice, scored the next three. But like last game, when the defensive pressure starts working, a lot of easy baskets are generated. Seth again was ferocious at point, repeated stealing the ball and either scoring or hitting a teammate for an easy basket. His three was what started it, but when Josh hit the last basket of the quarter, the Patriots had a 15-1 run to go up eleven heading into the second. Substitutions and a reining in of the pressure kept the score pretty even in the second. Josh scored again to open the fourth, but after Stan answered a Southside basket with one of his own, Southside's offense started clicking a little, and they outscored the Patriots 7-3 down the stretch to cut the lead to 26-17 at the half. The pressure was reinstated to start the second half, and it was even more effective that it was in the first quarter. The Patriots scored the first fourteen points of the half. Southside hit a three for their only points in the quarter. HSRC finished with six more points to finish the 20-3 quarter and to give them a 46-20 lead going into the fourth. All the bench players played in the fourth, and they had trouble getting room to score in that little gym. Southside was more successful, but the 9-0 scoring advantage for the hosts was too little, too late and the Patriot were 5-0 after the 46-29 win. Seth was the double-double man of this game with sixteen points and ten steals. Josh's double-double streak ended as he scored eight and had six rebounds in limited playing time. Nate and Kyle also had six rebounds, while Kyle and Seth shared assist honors with four each.
Last night the Patriots went down to Kankakee to play the host Grace Crusaders. We defeated Grace three times last year, the first two pretty easily but the last one was a battle. That game was an eight-point win at the KTA tournament, where Grace did a good job neutralizing our inside game. Well, our inside game wasn't Grace's problem on Friday. Their problem was the same one faced by Southside and most of the teams HSRC has played this year - how to deal with that trapping defense. They certainly didn't figure it out in the first quarter. Seth opened the game with a three. Grace answered with a field goal but that was it for them in the quarter. Meanwhile the Patriots were racking up ten steals in the quarter which resulted in a lot of fast break points. Actually, when Grace could play half court defense, they weren't bad, but that didn't happen much in the first quarter. The scoring was balanced as the steals were coming deeper down the court, not as much from Seth's pressuring of the ball handler as it had been in the last couple of games. Josh had five, Nate and Kyle four and Seth that lone three to account for the Patriots' points in the 16-2 quarter. Grace settled down a bit in the second, while HSRC didn't play as much of that nasty defense. The result was an even quarter, both team scoring ten and each team taking turns scoring. Grace opened the scoring and then the lead went from fourteen to twelve to fourteen to twelve, etc., the rest of the quarter. Lucas, coming off the bench was the leading scorer with six on three from the field, the last of which went through as time expired. The third quarter looked like the first. Pressure defense, fast breaks, little scoring from Grace. When the dust had settled, HSRC had outscored the Crusaders 15-4 in the quarter and had scored the last seven points. The resulting twenty-five point lead meant the game was essentially over, and Coach Boss cleared the bench for the fourth. Caleb scored on a nice put-back in the quarter, and Peter scored for the first time this season, dropping through a three. Nate had the only other bucket for the Patriots, while Grace scored ten to trim the final margin to twenty-two, 48-26. Scoring was balanced, as Kyle led with 12, Josh nine, Nate and Lucas with eight and Seth with six. The team had twenty-three steals for the third game in a row; Kyle was the leader in that category with seven. Josh also had eleven rebounds.
If you thought this week was busy, just wait until next week. Luther East at Hidden Cove on Monday, then all three teams play at Victory on Tuesday. Thursday the elementary and junior high will play at Glenwood School, then the varsity close the week with two games on Saturday, Glory to God and Granger Christian. Keep checking the calendar and your emails for details and changes.
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Recap of the week
It was a busy week this past week, the first full of week of play for the season. Between the three teams seven games were played, two by the varsity, three by the junior high team and two by the elementary team.
On Tuesday, the Patriots hosted the Patriots. No, it was not an intrasquad game. We played the Calumet Christian Patriots from Griffith, IN. Why are we the Patriots when a team we play regularly already has that nickname, you might ask. Well, let me tell you. Our original team was a girls team that started in 2006-2007. We didn't have uniforms and didn't have any money. Calumet was gracious enough to let us use some old volleyball uniforms for very little money. Of course their name was on them, Patriots, so we became the Patriots by default.
Calumet has been our rival over the last few years. One of the reasons for that is because there was a lot of young people that played volleyball for CCS and basketball for us, when Calumet didn't have a basketball team. We know a lot of people associated with the school. The first year we had a varsity boys' team, we played CCS's JV and lost. The next year we played Calumet three times and lost by a total of 95. Last year we gave Calumet their only conference loss of the year, but did lose to them the other two times we played, both by double digits. We have been up and down against their junior high team, beating them easily twice two years ago and losing by sizable margins last year. This year looks like the pendulum has swung back.
The shooting eye was sharp early as Henry, Matt, and Caleb each scoring on their first attempt of the match. Calumet played a very tight zone and out guys were hitting the mid-range jumpers. On the defensive side our zone was more active kept CCS off the board until late in the quarter. Caleb and David continued their barrage from the outside in the second quarter, hitting on six of nine between them in the period. Henry added a basket while the defense kept Calumet under control, only giving up a three. HSRC continued to build on the 20-5 half-time lead in the third. They slowed the pace and didn't shoot as much, but they still hit three buckets while shutting out Calumet in the quarter. By the middle of the fourth quarter two members of the elementary team, John, David and Will were on the floor. The lead got as high as 33 points before Calumet scored two baskets late for the 38-9 final. David had a career night with sixteen points on eight of sixteen shooting, while Caleb had ten points and eleven rebounds.
The high school squad started out pretty well, even though one starter wasn't out there because of a missed practice. The game was close but HSRC held the lead through most of the first quarter, ending the quarter with a 13-11 lead. Kyle had two early buckets for four points in the quarter. The second quarter was owned by CCS. They were a very explosive offensive team last year, and showed they can do the same this year, Their star, Darric Obinger, really got going in the quarter, scoring from three, two and the free throw line. He ended up with twelve of their nineteen in the second. Other than Josh inside, HSRC had trouble finding the basket and could only manage ten and so fell behind 30-23 by halftime. The offense finally showed life in the third, with Josh dominating inside and Lucas providing the driving and outside scoring. Josh hit all five of his shots for ten and Lucas contributed six in the 21-point quarter. CCS's lead shrunk gradually throughout the quarter and HSRC finally caught them with the last score of the quarter to go ahead 44-43. The defensive intensity seemed to build throughout the game and peaked in the fourth. The offense was good but was mostly generated by the defense. If the ball wasn't going inside to Josh, Calumet was fouling to stop fast breaks off steals. Josh again scored ten of the HSRCs twenty-three while the defense closed the door, allowing only seven shots and four points to give the home Patriots a 67-47 victory. HSRC outscored Calumet 44-17 in the second half. Josh led in scoring, breaking the varsity all-time record with 29 points (breaking Seth's record of 28 set in the first game of the 2011-2012 season) and added fifteen rebounds. Lucas had thirteen, Nate ten and Kyle added nine steals to his nine points.
On Thursday, all three Patriots teams went down to Kankakee to play Trinity. The Patriots had never defeated KTA except for a 42-26 win by our varsity team against their JV team a couple of years ago. Against their varsity we were 0-3. The elementary team took the floor first. David had to play down because of vacations and other conflicts, and even with him, the team only had five players. David continued with his hot shooting from Tuesday, hitting his first shot to open the scoring. On the defensive end, the guys did a good job keeping the ball out of the hands of their 6'2"(?) center. However anothe player did get a basket to tie it up. David again opened the scoring in the second. KTA scored from the line, then got another bucket before Joel scored. Their big center finally scored just before half to take a 7-6 lead. KTA only got one basket in the third. David got two to go down and Joel added another field goal and HSRC led by three going into the last quarter. KTA's #14, who the boys had held scoreless, finally found the range and scored six of their ten in the quarter. Our only score came from Joel and the elementary Patriots had their first loss of the year.
Junior high was similar to the elementary game. They were huge; we did a good job of neutralizing their size. Just not quite good enough. Each team was a little tentative in the opening quarter and it ended 4-4. Their defense continued to be strong, and the narrow gym didn't help our baseline shooting. KTA shot four of seven in the quarter while the lone point scored by HSRC was from Will at the line. Our defense was better in the third, but we continued to struggle against their size on the offense end. Matt and Henry scored to match the KTA third-quarter output. We made little run in the fourth. Caleb and Matt scored early, but KTA started hitting shots, especially from their big guys. The lead got as big as eight. Will scored late but that was it, and our one-game winning streak was over. 24-18, KTA.
KTA had lost their big man from last year who went to public school and others to graduation, but they still had their star guard, Chris Green and their excellent forward, Nick Campe. The suffocating defense held both of them in check. Between the two of them, they shot two of thirteen in the first quarter. HSRC's offense was somewhat better. Josh and Lucas continued their strong play from the Calumet game, and they scored all of the Patriots' ten in the first. The Patriots scored six in a row after the teams each scored two open the second and the lead was eight. It was still eight at 21-13 when KTA hit a three. Josh scored but the Eagles hit two free throws to close the half. After Josh opened the second half with a basket, Nate hit a three, his first of the year. Green hit a three to match it and after another KTA score, the lead was five again. The Patriots worked it into Josh for six straight points after the Eagles got to within three and that's how the quarter ended. As in the Calumet game, the fourth was the strongest for HSRC. KTA opened the scoring, but HSRC answered with six from Josh, Stan and Nate. KTA never got closer than eleven after that, and when Seth and Josh closed the scoring, the Patriots had the 54-35 victory. Per our records, HSRC held Green to nine points on 4-21 shooting and Campe to four on 2-15 shooting. Josh contined his excellent play, finishing with 26 points, 13 rebounds and 5 steals. Nate scored seven while pulling down nine rebounds and Seth added five assists.
A rematch with Portage's elementary and junior followed the next night. The elementary was still missing Connor and Gavin, and they missed them this evening. They did lead after one, 2-0. on a basket by Joel, but that was their only lead of the game. PCS has one player that is very skilled and he started hitting shots in the second. He hit two baskets and we were shut out. In the third we still couldn't find the basket. Their star got the only basket in the quarter and it was 6-2 after three. We continued to struggle on offense, while Portage hit a three by a girl on their team that had missed her first eight shots, many badly. Later a PCS basket made it an 11-2 game. Finally Nate and Brian scored but it was too little, too late in the 11-6 loss.
Portage's defense in the junior high game was dialed up in intensity from our first game with them. Their offense was also more fluid and active. and we had difficulty keeping them from penetrating our zone. Throw in a PCS three and the Pacer lead was 10-2 after one quarter. We had difficulty holding on to the ball in the second quarter. When we did get shots off, half went in, but we only got four off. We held Portage to seven, but we still had a eleven-point deficit to make up. The two points we scored in the third was not quite what we needed. We held PCS to four in the quarter, but they started the fourth very strong outscoring us 7-3 to go out to a 28-11 lead. Finally we caught fire. Drives by Henry, outside shots from Caleb and put-backs by Mark contributed to a 12-2 run and we were back in it. Alas, but Portage broke our pressure defense, scoring the last four for the 34-23 final score. Our shooting was solid and we outshot the hosts 46% to 33%, but we couldn't hold onto the ball in the face of their aggressive man-to-man defense. We turned it over 23 times but could only force six steals. Henry had nine points, with Caleb and Mark adding six Caleb also had eight rebounds and three steals in the game.
FOFCA is the opponent for the junior high and varsity team on Monday at 5:30 and 6:30. These are our home games and will take place at Hidden Cove in Bourbonnais. See you there.
On Tuesday, the Patriots hosted the Patriots. No, it was not an intrasquad game. We played the Calumet Christian Patriots from Griffith, IN. Why are we the Patriots when a team we play regularly already has that nickname, you might ask. Well, let me tell you. Our original team was a girls team that started in 2006-2007. We didn't have uniforms and didn't have any money. Calumet was gracious enough to let us use some old volleyball uniforms for very little money. Of course their name was on them, Patriots, so we became the Patriots by default.
Calumet has been our rival over the last few years. One of the reasons for that is because there was a lot of young people that played volleyball for CCS and basketball for us, when Calumet didn't have a basketball team. We know a lot of people associated with the school. The first year we had a varsity boys' team, we played CCS's JV and lost. The next year we played Calumet three times and lost by a total of 95. Last year we gave Calumet their only conference loss of the year, but did lose to them the other two times we played, both by double digits. We have been up and down against their junior high team, beating them easily twice two years ago and losing by sizable margins last year. This year looks like the pendulum has swung back.
The shooting eye was sharp early as Henry, Matt, and Caleb each scoring on their first attempt of the match. Calumet played a very tight zone and out guys were hitting the mid-range jumpers. On the defensive side our zone was more active kept CCS off the board until late in the quarter. Caleb and David continued their barrage from the outside in the second quarter, hitting on six of nine between them in the period. Henry added a basket while the defense kept Calumet under control, only giving up a three. HSRC continued to build on the 20-5 half-time lead in the third. They slowed the pace and didn't shoot as much, but they still hit three buckets while shutting out Calumet in the quarter. By the middle of the fourth quarter two members of the elementary team, John, David and Will were on the floor. The lead got as high as 33 points before Calumet scored two baskets late for the 38-9 final. David had a career night with sixteen points on eight of sixteen shooting, while Caleb had ten points and eleven rebounds.
The high school squad started out pretty well, even though one starter wasn't out there because of a missed practice. The game was close but HSRC held the lead through most of the first quarter, ending the quarter with a 13-11 lead. Kyle had two early buckets for four points in the quarter. The second quarter was owned by CCS. They were a very explosive offensive team last year, and showed they can do the same this year, Their star, Darric Obinger, really got going in the quarter, scoring from three, two and the free throw line. He ended up with twelve of their nineteen in the second. Other than Josh inside, HSRC had trouble finding the basket and could only manage ten and so fell behind 30-23 by halftime. The offense finally showed life in the third, with Josh dominating inside and Lucas providing the driving and outside scoring. Josh hit all five of his shots for ten and Lucas contributed six in the 21-point quarter. CCS's lead shrunk gradually throughout the quarter and HSRC finally caught them with the last score of the quarter to go ahead 44-43. The defensive intensity seemed to build throughout the game and peaked in the fourth. The offense was good but was mostly generated by the defense. If the ball wasn't going inside to Josh, Calumet was fouling to stop fast breaks off steals. Josh again scored ten of the HSRCs twenty-three while the defense closed the door, allowing only seven shots and four points to give the home Patriots a 67-47 victory. HSRC outscored Calumet 44-17 in the second half. Josh led in scoring, breaking the varsity all-time record with 29 points (breaking Seth's record of 28 set in the first game of the 2011-2012 season) and added fifteen rebounds. Lucas had thirteen, Nate ten and Kyle added nine steals to his nine points.
On Thursday, all three Patriots teams went down to Kankakee to play Trinity. The Patriots had never defeated KTA except for a 42-26 win by our varsity team against their JV team a couple of years ago. Against their varsity we were 0-3. The elementary team took the floor first. David had to play down because of vacations and other conflicts, and even with him, the team only had five players. David continued with his hot shooting from Tuesday, hitting his first shot to open the scoring. On the defensive end, the guys did a good job keeping the ball out of the hands of their 6'2"(?) center. However anothe player did get a basket to tie it up. David again opened the scoring in the second. KTA scored from the line, then got another bucket before Joel scored. Their big center finally scored just before half to take a 7-6 lead. KTA only got one basket in the third. David got two to go down and Joel added another field goal and HSRC led by three going into the last quarter. KTA's #14, who the boys had held scoreless, finally found the range and scored six of their ten in the quarter. Our only score came from Joel and the elementary Patriots had their first loss of the year.
Junior high was similar to the elementary game. They were huge; we did a good job of neutralizing their size. Just not quite good enough. Each team was a little tentative in the opening quarter and it ended 4-4. Their defense continued to be strong, and the narrow gym didn't help our baseline shooting. KTA shot four of seven in the quarter while the lone point scored by HSRC was from Will at the line. Our defense was better in the third, but we continued to struggle against their size on the offense end. Matt and Henry scored to match the KTA third-quarter output. We made little run in the fourth. Caleb and Matt scored early, but KTA started hitting shots, especially from their big guys. The lead got as big as eight. Will scored late but that was it, and our one-game winning streak was over. 24-18, KTA.
KTA had lost their big man from last year who went to public school and others to graduation, but they still had their star guard, Chris Green and their excellent forward, Nick Campe. The suffocating defense held both of them in check. Between the two of them, they shot two of thirteen in the first quarter. HSRC's offense was somewhat better. Josh and Lucas continued their strong play from the Calumet game, and they scored all of the Patriots' ten in the first. The Patriots scored six in a row after the teams each scored two open the second and the lead was eight. It was still eight at 21-13 when KTA hit a three. Josh scored but the Eagles hit two free throws to close the half. After Josh opened the second half with a basket, Nate hit a three, his first of the year. Green hit a three to match it and after another KTA score, the lead was five again. The Patriots worked it into Josh for six straight points after the Eagles got to within three and that's how the quarter ended. As in the Calumet game, the fourth was the strongest for HSRC. KTA opened the scoring, but HSRC answered with six from Josh, Stan and Nate. KTA never got closer than eleven after that, and when Seth and Josh closed the scoring, the Patriots had the 54-35 victory. Per our records, HSRC held Green to nine points on 4-21 shooting and Campe to four on 2-15 shooting. Josh contined his excellent play, finishing with 26 points, 13 rebounds and 5 steals. Nate scored seven while pulling down nine rebounds and Seth added five assists.
A rematch with Portage's elementary and junior followed the next night. The elementary was still missing Connor and Gavin, and they missed them this evening. They did lead after one, 2-0. on a basket by Joel, but that was their only lead of the game. PCS has one player that is very skilled and he started hitting shots in the second. He hit two baskets and we were shut out. In the third we still couldn't find the basket. Their star got the only basket in the quarter and it was 6-2 after three. We continued to struggle on offense, while Portage hit a three by a girl on their team that had missed her first eight shots, many badly. Later a PCS basket made it an 11-2 game. Finally Nate and Brian scored but it was too little, too late in the 11-6 loss.
Portage's defense in the junior high game was dialed up in intensity from our first game with them. Their offense was also more fluid and active. and we had difficulty keeping them from penetrating our zone. Throw in a PCS three and the Pacer lead was 10-2 after one quarter. We had difficulty holding on to the ball in the second quarter. When we did get shots off, half went in, but we only got four off. We held Portage to seven, but we still had a eleven-point deficit to make up. The two points we scored in the third was not quite what we needed. We held PCS to four in the quarter, but they started the fourth very strong outscoring us 7-3 to go out to a 28-11 lead. Finally we caught fire. Drives by Henry, outside shots from Caleb and put-backs by Mark contributed to a 12-2 run and we were back in it. Alas, but Portage broke our pressure defense, scoring the last four for the 34-23 final score. Our shooting was solid and we outshot the hosts 46% to 33%, but we couldn't hold onto the ball in the face of their aggressive man-to-man defense. We turned it over 23 times but could only force six steals. Henry had nine points, with Caleb and Mark adding six Caleb also had eight rebounds and three steals in the game.
FOFCA is the opponent for the junior high and varsity team on Monday at 5:30 and 6:30. These are our home games and will take place at Hidden Cove in Bourbonnais. See you there.
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