17U: Thunder 56, Chargers 51 (update)

That was quite a spectacle at Aiea District Park Gym tonight for coaches and watchers alike. Our Thunder gunners were in attack mode, moving the ball exquisitely at times, finding open teammates. We hit 9 11 3-pointers in the first half — THE FIRST HALF — in 20 22 attempts and led 35-22 at the break.

(Update/note: Our math during post-game dinner was off. One of the errors was a 3 by Chase that was actually a 2, feet on the line. But nine treys in a half is pretty decent.)

Then Pearl City caught fire. That #6 guy was smooth with that nice jump shot, and they took the lead on us (can't remember that score), but we finished strong. Our first five executed very well down the stretch, with Isaiah working with Tai on the pick and roll, with Haka finding seams against the Chargers' man-to-man defense. It was a good finish for an up-and-down game.

We got by without Alleck (studying), without Mike (volleyball). I would've like to have seen more low-post opportunities for Kaelen and Max while the second group was on the floor, but we'll get back to practice and work on the issues we had tonight. Overall, much more positives than negatives, which is something I know Coach Larry, myself, and all of us can be optimistic about this early in the 17U spring season. All our work in the past year, two years as a group has forged a solid chemistry.

We're not perfect (yet), but that teamwork will continue to push us higher. It was another fun night of often-times beautiful basketball. Thanks boys. WE LUB THIS GAME!