Boys Basketball Team Goes 2-1 on the Week
by Harlin Welch
January 25, 2010
Chambers
Coach’s comments: “Chambers is a very scrappy team with several guys who can score. We knew this was going to be a big challenge, but we were glad we had them on our own floor.
“When we came out and hit several shots early, including some three pointers, we were hoping we would be able to sustain it. The first quarter was possibly our best quarter of the season, but we still only led by 6 points. Jared and Mitch were both huge for us in the first quarter. It was nice to see Mitch handle the full court pressure because that has been something that has caused us problems lately.
“When we were able to build a nice lead going into half, we were in no way comfortable, knowing what they were capable of. Chambers made some runs in the second half, but for the most part, our man-to-man defense was really solid.
“This was a good win for us against a very sound team.”
Valentine
Coach’s comments: “Anytime we have to play Valentine, we know it’s going to be tough. We started out pretty well and were able to hit some quick shots to jump to an early 9-4 lead. We felt that we took too many quick shots, and our shot selection led to some points for them. We were down by 8 at the half but felt that we could do some things to be able to get things changed around in the second half.
“We made a run early, but we just weren’t able to capitalize on our open shots and really struggled shooting the ball. We have to give Valentine credit. They were the team that got to the loose balls and made things happen when they needed to.
“This was a tough loss, but we couldn’t hang our heads because we have a lot of important games coming up right away.”
Ogallala
Coach’s comments: “We watched film on these guys and after seeing them, we decided to run a 2-3 zone defense and make them beat us from the outside. Our zone defense was pretty good with the exception of giving them too many second chances by not finding guys to box out. We did a nice job early against their man- to-man, and that forced them to go to a 2-3 zone defense themselves. After Ogallala switched to the zone, we were just too hesitant on shooting the ball and didn’t do a very good job of attacking the seams of the zone.
“We managed to build a nice lead in the second half, but too many careless turnovers allowed them to get back into the game in the 4th quarter. We once again had too many mental mistakes down the stretch, and we were really lucky that it didn’t cost us the game. “I am very proud of the boys for stepping up in overtime and holding on for the win.”
