St Rose’s boys and girls varsity basketball teams competed in Blessed Sacrament’s annual kick-off tournament from 11/14-11/20. The girls won their first game over St John Baptist, before falling in consecutive games to Christ the King. At the end of last year, the girls varsity team had no 8th graders, so we returned a strong core this year, and we added a very athletic group of incoming 7th graders as well. Daizja, Gaby, Naomi, Mireya, and Luz are joined by Marla, Capri, Janay, and Joanna. The difference between last year and this year was apparent immediately in our first game against SJB. Coach Moo has his girls playing a very aggressive defensive style, and the girls came out firing on all cylinders. With the defensive intensity of Mireya, Capri, Janay, and Joanna setting the tone as the highs in the 3-2, and the rebounding of Luz and Gaby complimented by the scoring of Daizja, Marla, and Capri, this year’s Raiders team is definitely fun to watch. Through three quarters, SJB could muster only 5 points, and although SJB started getting some better opportunities in the 4th quarter, we still held on for the comfortable victory. Our next game came against Christ the King’s division 1 team, and with somewhat tired legs, we fell, but we still got valuable experience against a top opponent, especially as we try to learn how to handle the ball against pressure. Our third game came against Christ the King’s seventh grade, and it was a see-saw battle all game. We were down 2 with a few seconds left, and Coach Moo set up an inbounds play that yielded a very good look, but alas, the ball rimmed out. Players, coaches, and parents all came out of the tournament encouraged though, and the future looks bright for our girls program.
The boys draw had four division 1 teams, one division 2 team, and three division 3 teams. Our boys opened against MPB division 3, and it wasn’t an equal talent match up. What was encouraging though, was the balanced scoring. Returners Julian, Aaron, Rolando, Tony, and Anthony scored 15, 14, 14, 12, and 8 respectively, and newcomers Mario and Santi each scored 4 points in their first varsity game. We squared off against a talented Blessed Sacrament division 1 team in the semis, and it was a nail-biter all game long. BSS got up 11-5 after one, and still held a six point lead, 20-14, at half. We evened the score 28-28 after three, and then went on to eke out the victory 37-34. Although we had trouble getting good looks and knocking them down for most of the game, we fought extremely hard, and never gave up, or got down on each other. Last year, we had a lot of close losses, and it was good to see this group overcome adversity right away, and fight for all 40 minutes. Julian drew a ton of defensive attention and manpower, and although he only scored 2 points, he played the whole game, got a bunch of rebounds, and allowed our other players to get open looks. Aaron didn’t have any field goals, but his seven free throws in the second half were absolutely crucial. Aaron also played all 40 minutes, and did the majority of the ball handling duties. Rolando chipped in two buckets in each half, as he makes the transition to more of a forward this year from his guard position last year. Tony and Rolando both fouled out, which meant that incoming 7th graders Mario and Santi finished the game on the floor. This was a huge spot for them, and they acquitted themselves very well, fighting for rebounds, loose balls, and steals, and playing confidently with the ball on offense, as they get used to our systems. The players of the game though, were Tony and Anthony. Tony hit three second half threes, on his way to a game high 10 points. Anthony played extremely good and hard defense, ran the floor well, made some very hard catches and finishes in traffic, hit a big third quarter three that made the defense extend and respect him, and generally played a great game. After our BSS win, we had a couple days off to rest before the championship game. The championship game saw a familiar trend from last year, as St Vincent de Paul had two six footers. We’re pretty used to giving up a bunch of inches though, and Julian, Tony, Rolando, Mario, and even Anthony played low at times, and battled for rebounds all night long. Our scoring was once again very balanced, at 12, 10, 10, 10, and 7. SVDP played almost exclusively a 2-1-2, with lots of focus on the top, so Aaron had to be patient, but after a quarter of distributing, he started finding his opportunities, and SVDP had to pick their poison. Still, it was only a 6 point game mid 4th, before we went on a big run to put the game away. The final was 49-27, and it yielded a very nice pre-season tournament win, that in turn yielded the newest addition to our trophy case. Hopefully, more are on the way.
The boys draw had four division 1 teams, one division 2 team, and three division 3 teams. Our boys opened against MPB division 3, and it wasn’t an equal talent match up. What was encouraging though, was the balanced scoring. Returners Julian, Aaron, Rolando, Tony, and Anthony scored 15, 14, 14, 12, and 8 respectively, and newcomers Mario and Santi each scored 4 points in their first varsity game. We squared off against a talented Blessed Sacrament division 1 team in the semis, and it was a nail-biter all game long. BSS got up 11-5 after one, and still held a six point lead, 20-14, at half. We evened the score 28-28 after three, and then went on to eke out the victory 37-34. Although we had trouble getting good looks and knocking them down for most of the game, we fought extremely hard, and never gave up, or got down on each other. Last year, we had a lot of close losses, and it was good to see this group overcome adversity right away, and fight for all 40 minutes. Julian drew a ton of defensive attention and manpower, and although he only scored 2 points, he played the whole game, got a bunch of rebounds, and allowed our other players to get open looks. Aaron didn’t have any field goals, but his seven free throws in the second half were absolutely crucial. Aaron also played all 40 minutes, and did the majority of the ball handling duties. Rolando chipped in two buckets in each half, as he makes the transition to more of a forward this year from his guard position last year. Tony and Rolando both fouled out, which meant that incoming 7th graders Mario and Santi finished the game on the floor. This was a huge spot for them, and they acquitted themselves very well, fighting for rebounds, loose balls, and steals, and playing confidently with the ball on offense, as they get used to our systems. The players of the game though, were Tony and Anthony. Tony hit three second half threes, on his way to a game high 10 points. Anthony played extremely good and hard defense, ran the floor well, made some very hard catches and finishes in traffic, hit a big third quarter three that made the defense extend and respect him, and generally played a great game. After our BSS win, we had a couple days off to rest before the championship game. The championship game saw a familiar trend from last year, as St Vincent de Paul had two six footers. We’re pretty used to giving up a bunch of inches though, and Julian, Tony, Rolando, Mario, and even Anthony played low at times, and battled for rebounds all night long. Our scoring was once again very balanced, at 12, 10, 10, 10, and 7. SVDP played almost exclusively a 2-1-2, with lots of focus on the top, so Aaron had to be patient, but after a quarter of distributing, he started finding his opportunities, and SVDP had to pick their poison. Still, it was only a 6 point game mid 4th, before we went on a big run to put the game away. The final was 49-27, and it yielded a very nice pre-season tournament win, that in turn yielded the newest addition to our trophy case. Hopefully, more are on the way.
No comments:
Post a Comment