In the last game before Christmas break, the Salem Saints traveled to Crown of Life in West St. Paul on Thursday to take on the Raiders. For not having practice all week, I thought our Saints came out of the gate with solid offensive execution in the first half. Our offensive sets looked fairly sharp, which created many opportunities for us to drive and attack the basket. On the other side of the floor, I was also pleased with our positioning, communication, and awareness in our active 2-3 zone defense. Although we did a good job forcing the Raiders into many outside shots, we struggled to close out many of our defensive possessions in the first half by not boxing out or simply grabbing rebounds and loose balls. With only seven players on their team, I thought Crown of Life gave an excellent first half effort, keeping the game close going into halftime ( halftime score: 20-19 ...