Le Jardin League
We were 6 strong tonight and played well in spurts. No question Punahou was very disciplined and relentless defensively in the last 10 minutes. We nearly lost a 14- or 15-point lead as fatigue set in, but Kali‘a hit two clutch free throws in the final seconds to increase our 1-point margin to 3.
Officiating was not good. Afton Smith and his partner allowed Punahou to hack and whack our guys. Again. Radyn is taking a brutal amount of punishment from small guys, big guys, everybody, and rarely gets a call. For the most part, officiating in this league has been above average. Afton Smith just brings it down so severely, trying to take over games and give other teams — especially smaller defenders — too much leniency. They can slap and hammer our guys like this and get away with it with Afton reffing, but what happens when they get officiated by an official who doesn't try to "balance" a game with a peculiar double-standard of calls?
It's the kind of officiating and arrogance I haven't really seen since Matt Ho and Ramon (both of NJB All-Net). Instead of letting the game flow and calling it by the book, guys like them and Afton take it upon themselves to control a game to an extreme. Punahou didn't need his help at all. But it's all on video and it's all getting pretty obvious that a few officials at this level (JV) are not being held accountable at all.
I'm glad that our guys didn't challenge the officials verbally. That would be pointless. And I did my part without testing the waters too deeply. I'm not going to risk getting a technical foul that could cost our team a win.
On the plus side, we got great effort from everybody. Kali‘a shot lights out from 3-point range. Chase was terrific with his all-around offense and defense. Radyn crashed the boards and had a solid passing game when he wasn't being hacked to pieces on his drives (no-calls). Tenchi was effective for the most part on the low post, but his mid-range shot is short because of that elbow-out form that he is reluctant to straighten. (I wish he would because when he shoots a normal elbow-in, armpit-closed shot, he has beautiful form and hits shots from halfcourt. I am not kidding; he did it 3 practices in a row back in May.)
Jonah was solid as usual, probably the best defensive 8th grader in the entire league. Felcris was solid most of the time, but like some of our other guys, rushed with the ball a few times and had turnovers that he normally hasn't been making lately. Plus, he was fatigued after playing an earlier game at Palama (late night league).
All in all, our guys played really solid basketball until the no-calls and fatigue really began to take a toll, and then we hung on for a tough win. Job well done, Thunder.
Lineup: Jonah, Felcris, Kali‘a, Chase, Tenchi, Radyn.
Next
Wednesday
10:15 am - Meet for fish net fundraiser.
11 am-1 pm - Fishing time!
4:30 pm - Practice at Makiki Park.
Thursday
4:30 pm - Practice at Makiki Park.
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