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.