After a nice win over Punahou two nights earlier, this was a setback. It's been a very even season in the Kalani Varsity Summer League, a lot of parity. We're 3-3 now, but easily could be 6-0. Every team is beatable.
This one was close all the way. Roosevelt had just six guys and played a smart game. We faced two of our own guys, Brent and Mick. Brent hurt us with his mid-range baseline shots and drives to the basket. He happened to save his best game of the season for us!
We had the ball with 8 or so seconds left, down 52-51, when Isaiah beat his man off the dribble, took on a second defender and missed a layup from the left side. Rough Riders hit a foul shot with :00.8 left to close the scoring. Isaiah had the winning shot against Punahou, and such is the game of basketball. One night, it's a thrilling shot for the victory. Then it's a tough finish on a miss two nights later. But we trust Isaiah with the ball and the last shot without hesitation.
Haka had a solid game from the perimeter, penetrating to get contact and get to the foul line. Isaiah was hounded wherever he went by his old Roosevelt teammates. He didn't get a lot of breathing room, and they tipped and slapped the ball away on a few of his drives, knowing all his moves.
Kyle had a tough first half, but hit a clutch 3 from the corner to give us the lead late in the game. He and Tanielu have logged a lot of minutes in the past three days between varsity, JV and 13U games. Fatigue is a factor, but he and Tani did a solid job tonight. Tani was big in the second half with some breakaway layups.
On the whole, it was a solid game for us, just a teeny bit short on the scoreboard. I'll mention this one more time, and I wish we'd taken heed on this during the game. When you beat a smaller defender off the dribble, it's going to be an And-1 situation when you come to a stop at the basket and get your shot off using your body as a shield while he jumps into you. We had multiple opportunities to do this tonight, and we didn't take advantage quite enough. Instead, we had a lot of missed shots in traffic 5 to 10 feet out. A lot of makes, but a lot of missed opportunities.
It's a lesson worth learning. Hopefully, we all listen and execute next time, and the time after that and the time after that. Beyond pure competition, that's what this is about: gaining experience, learning from success and mistakes, and improving.
Next:
Friday, 5:00 pm, Practice, Makiki Park
Saturday, 2:00 pm, 15U vs. Monarchs JV, Pearl City High School gym (Pearl City JV League)
Sunday, 11:00 am, Practice, McCully gym
Monday, 8:00 pm, 15U vs. Kahuku, Kilauea gym (CAL)
Tuesday, 4:00 pm, 13U, Practice, Makiki Park
Tuesday, 7:15 pm, 17U vs. Falcons, Kalani HS gym (Kalani Varsity League)
Wednesday, 4:00 pm, 13U, Practice, Makiki Park
Wednesday, 7:15 pm, 17U vs. Monarchs, Kalani HS gym (Kalani Varsity League)
Thursday (4th of July) - No practice (unless requested by players)
No comments:
Post a Comment