We led for most of this game. Really strong effort out of our fullcourt press, good ball movement on offense against their 2-3 zone, some solid shooting, especially from deep by Kapaa. Tani, Haka, Anu and the guys got quite a few layups off steals.
Our transition offense was very good early. A lot of strong drives for buckets, especially by Tani.
But Maryknoll got some deep-range threes from #11. We didn't box out well at all. (I know this is because we don't practice enough, and we don't practice boxing out enough. We should've pushed Maryknoll's tall guy out of the key all night.)
When the game got close, it was back and forth for awhile. Then came a no-call when Haka got hit, and he twisted his right ankle and came out of the game.
Later, he was back in and driving upcourt when the defender tripped over Haka's right foot, but the official called Haka for pushing off. Bad call, but we were down just 2 points with plenty of time (2 minutes?) left. Instead, Haka lost his cool, got a technical foul. Maryknoll got an automatic 2 points (league rule) and the ball. That was followed (I think) by a foul that was ruled intentional. Another two points for Maryknoll, and they got the ball back again. That basically finished us off, though we had our chances to score in the final :19.
This is, hopefully, a lesson for all our guys, from the oldest to the youngest. When stuff hits the fan, we can't get calls, we turn the ball over against a press because we don't execute our pressbreaker consistently (and panic) ... this is what can happen. Keeping our composure is HUGE in a close game even though referees make mistakes. Running the basic pressbreaker should get us layups instead of turnovers.
The only good thing about a loss like this is that the PAIN of all the physical and mental errors tends to stick. I hope the pain teaches us and CORRECTS us. If we had won, we'd be happy, but the mistakes would probably continue.
I'm proud of all our guys, even in defeat and even with the mistakes. We have room to grow and mature, and the sooner we do that, the better. We played a helluva game, and I can live with the mistakes because I KNOW all our guys will gain wisdom from them.
Lineup: Raydyn Kaleikini, Chase Santos, Felcris Jay Corpuz Ahadain, Ryan Higashionna, Kanehe Nishimura, Tanielu Mosi Afe, Kapaa Nishimura, Chris Afe, Keanu Pratt, Haka Iamhaka Johnson.
Next: Wednesday, 7:00 pm - Thunder vs. Mid-Pacific (Maryknoll JV League). This will be fun. MPI beat Punahou last week.
WE LUB THIS GAME!
WE LUB THIS GAME!
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