Basketball boys game #10 Summary

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Sailors Top Saints in Wild, Back and Forth Game
            In Friday’s battle of the Salems, these two teams had much more similarities than just their school names. Leading up to this week’s game, our boys prepared for an evenly matched contest. From the initial tip-off until the final buzzer sounded, the heart and hustle that both these teams displayed rendered the phrase “evenly matched” an understatement. Besides the fact that Salem Greenfield had much more experience and a few more ball handlers than our Saints, these two teams were a spitting image of one another. The fast-paced nature of this game, along with the numerous momentum swings by each team, made for both a chaotic and competitive game of basketball.
            In a game with so many scoring runs, our Saints came out with the first run of the game (7-0), which was largely due to our active zone defense that deflected several Greenfield passes. Our stellar offensive execution in the half court enabled us to control most of the first half (halftime score: 15-10). However, from the very end of the first half to the entire second half, the Sailors switched into a relentless full court press that flustered our inexperienced basketball team. It does not take a trained basketball expert to recognize that turnovers were the difference in this game. Even for a young team, our Saints had far too many poor passing decisions and sloppy ball handling that allowed Greenfield to seize all the momentum in the second half. Another key to the second half scoring runs by the Sailors was the free throw disparity. Greenfield made six out of fourteen free throws (43%), while our boys only converted six out of twenty-two attempts (27%). Although the plethora of turnovers were too much for our Saints to overcome (final score: 20-30), I am proud of how hard our boys battled against such a hard-charging, well-coached Greenfield team. Even though much of this game had a frantic, chaotic pace, the nonstop scrappiness and true grit of both these teams led to an exciting night of basketball!
While our Saints continue to improve at a rapid pace, this game will serve as a valuable learning experience for our boys. As time goes on and we continue to grow, develop and polish our basketball fundamentals, and become more experienced and mature, I can guarantee our Saints will come out on the other side of games like tonight!
With Friday’s game being our annual Parents’ Night ceremony, I would like to recognize and thank our lone eighth grader, Houghton, for his contributions to Salem’s basketball program!
Next week, our Saints will take on the Pilgrim Pacers at home in our last game of the regular season.


By: Coach Travis Koester

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