Two Losses and a Pre-Vacation Deserved Win

Since I last checked in, we lost two games and won one (last night). A quick attempt at getting all of the faithful readers caught up...
Two Fridays ago, on the 9th of February, we lost to our rivals, Prospect Hill Academy. We played a stellar first half and were tied heading into the second sixteen minutes. We were under control, fighting for rebounds, working the offense through impressively until we got good shots and playing smart basketball. Against their press, our adjustments were effective and the turnovers were kept under control. However, the team regressed during the second half in front of a large home crowd. Many turnovers, missed shots and bad decisions later, we found ourselves defeated, 46-34. I was very frustrated by the loss. PHA is solid and well-coached, but we had worked in practice on all of the right things -- our press break, our zone offense, our own 3/4 court press. During the second half, though, we didn't take care of the ball and resorted to the type of basketball that is, for many of the kids, familiar. And in an up and down game, PHA beats us. They're deep, playing 9 or 10 kids consistently without a huge drop off in quality. Our 6 had a hard time keeping up. And yes, again, the officiating was dreadful, though that is now the norm, makes me less upset and is expected. The refs were not in control of a very physical game. Our kids did, however, carried themselves well -- an emerging theme, of which the CCSC community must be proud (evidence of a strong culture emerging and the efficacy of some of our daily systems), especially when pitted against a group that was perpetually talking, dancing, banging unnecessarily and without class. Regardless, the loss stung.
With only a short weekend off, we traveled on Monday the 12th to Brighton High School to play MATCH, to whom we had lost by two earlier in the year. Brighton High School is enormous, a fortress. We were supposed to play previously, but a leak in the cooling system and puddles on the court prevented it. The building is old, the tunnels are long and winding and the gym seems set up to prevent rioting. There are no stands save for a balcony behind one of the hoops that can accommodate a hundred or so spectators. I coached the girls game before we played because their coach had to deal with a family emergency. We lost, but it was fun and serious. The girls were, I think, appreciative. Some of them would commit to 7am practices while others moan at the thought of one a week. The level of commitment and passion is variable, unlike the boys team and I am thankful it is not something with which I am forced to contend. They played hard, but MATCH has a girl who did not play the first time around. She dominated the game and we had no answer. The boys were up next.
The MATCH game, which we lost, was one of the toughest Ls to swallow. After falling behind early, we completely dominated the middle portion of the game. We pressed effectively. They had an outstanding point guard who was, for the chunk of the game, frustrated by our trapping press and we caused turnover after turnover, stealing the ball and racing in for lay-ups. The offense was clicking and, with 8 minutes left, we were up by 10 or so. Then it began to unravel, albeit slowly.
Playing with a lead is a skill. We have very little experience with it. We went from a ferocious pressing and attacking team to a completely tentative one. We showed that we were unable to have good, long possessions without totally relinquishing our aggressiveness. MATCH slowly crawled back into the game, scoring basket after basket. We passed the ball well, but did not attack openings and gave it to them a few times. With a few minutes left in the game, MATCH regained the lead and hit foul shots down the stretch. It was, to put it mildly, a devastating loss; one that highlighted yet another area on which we must work, learn and grow as a team in order to ultimately be more successful. The kids were crushed. We spoke for a while and boarded the cold bus for the ride home from Brighton.
Amazingly, almost every kid showed up the next day at practice, at 7am on a cold, dark Tuesday morning, and we got back to work. Our Wednesday practice was canceled because of the storm here, unfortunately, and we headed into last night's game without much prep.
We entered halftime of last night's game with a lead, but not a big one. We were playing decently, but not sharply, against a team that was not good, that has not yet won in our league. It was an opportunity to practice in a live situation and, at halftime, I was not happy with the extent to which we were doing just that.
We made some adjustments, however, and played a wonderful second half. We pressed the entire game, forcing turnovers, but did the small things during the second half to make it more effective. With 10 minutes to go, we began subbing in kids who don't normally get to play, students who have shown incredible patience and dedication, sticking with a team that is committed to winning at the expense of some sort of universal, equally distribution of playing time mandate. Some of them, like Ehsan, mentioned previously, I think, have turned themselves into viable options. For some of the kids, most perhaps, this is year one of organized hoops, or coaching. The growth curve is miraculous. Ehsan, for example, now moves his feet, boxes out, uses body. He takes practice seriously, now has a left hand and is inspiring to the coaching staff.
The Garcia twins, particularly Jeffrey, who does not play much, got some quality time. Obence got in there and did well and, of course, Daniel, the future of our program, was on the court for his longest stretch, the final five minutes.
With the starters seated, enjoying themselves, cheering on their peers, the kids did wonderfully against SSA starters. We called off the press, but continued to play a tough half-court man defense, get some steals and fast break points and run the offense. With 8 minutes remaining, the crowd, our crowd, which was smaller than usual as we dismissed for vacation earlier in the day, starting asking, pleading, for Daniel.
Daniel is in 7th grade, definitely prepubescent, tiny. He wears a size large uniform that he swims in. The crowd, particularly the girls, particularly his two all-everything sisters, went nuts. He ran the point, setting a screen away after passing for the first time, making Chris, one of the assistant coaches, beam.
With a couple of minutes left, he went hard baseline and was fouled.
At the line, with the ball swallowing his chest, he missed the first and then calmly sank the second. The fans went crazy, screaming, cheering. The kids on the bench cheers and smiled proudly.
Throughout the whole ordeal, Daniel remained straight-faced, in business-mode. As we exited the gym last night, Daniel was on the ground, screaming. His older sister Rachel had him pinned on the ground, was holding him there and demanding something or other. He definitely is, after all, in 7th grade and barely 5 feet tall.
Aaron and Olivia made the trip up from NYC to scout HBS life and attended the game, arriving for the second half and the Daniel Jean-Louis show. I think they enjoyed themselves immensely. We huddled after the game and I found little difficulty in shouting out each kid for something they did, something they showed throughout the course of the night. Regardless of SSA's record, it was a good win, one that we needed, especially heading into vacation.
We now get to practice more than ever, working out three times in the coming weeks for two hours each. It will be good for us, fun for the kids. Needless to say, and this is, of course, indicative of the student population, no one is going anywhere. Having some structured time over the vacation will be good for all involved, including the coaches.
As usual, thanks for checking in staying up to date. Wish you could have been there. Enjoy the pictures, courtesy of Rosha's camera being in the hands of Sarah, president of the student body and girls team bruiser.
After this vacation week, we have four games against very tough teams -- at Health Careers, home and away with Pacific Rim Academy (sitting atop, or near the top, of the league) and a home game against Codman Academy. Then, if we make it, the MCSAO tournament, exposure to which will be so good for our kids at a young age. And who knows, maybe we'll peak at the right time and a run is in the cards...