HSRC Patriots Sports

Start of a new winning streak?

2012-01-28T20:19:00.000-08:00

After a tough one against Calumet Monday on their home court, the Patriots (HSRC, not Calumet) righted the ship on Thursday against Southside Baptist. Turnovers, fouls, and a Calumet streak in the third quarter led to the 65-50 loss to Calumet, while ferocious defense turned things around for the team as the beat the Torchman on our home court, 53-29.

The guys knew that Calumet would be tough, having watched them come in second their own tournament. And since we had defeated CCS at our place earlier in the season, 70-68 in overtime, Calumet would be looking to even things up. HSRC took the early lead behind Seth who opened the scoring with a basket, two free throws and three to contribute to a 9-5 lead. Calumet made a three which Josh matched with a three point play. However Calumet closed the scoring in the quarter with another three and a two to take a one-point lead into the second. Nate and Josh put us back up by four. From there it was back and forth. Seth hit a three to give HSRC a one-point lead, but again CCS closed with a flurry, scoring the last five and taking 29-25 lead into the half.

The deficit grew to seven early, but after a Kyle basket it was 35-32. That was the last time it was close. Three threes in a row followed by a foul on a made basket and the ensuing free throw ballooned the lead to fifteen. After a Seth basket, Calumet make another three point play after the fifth foul was called on Seth, which, like his fourth that happend on the play before, was apparently because he was on the same side of the court as the shooter. The quarter ended with CCS leading 52-38. CCS scored first and the boy's couldn't get any closer than thirteen. They did play even with a man down in the quarter but that was one of the few positives in the game. Because of the turnovers and the fact that the rebounding wasn't as dominant as usual, Calumet took over twenty more shots than did our Patriots. The other significant statistical difference was that Calumet made nine threes to our three.

Josh and Seth were the leading scorers with seventeen and fifteen, respectively. Kyle also had fourteen rebounds. Kyle led with four assists while Lucas had four steals.

On Thursday the Patriots faced another opponent looking to even the score for the season, the Southside Torchmen. HSRC defeated the Torchman on their own home court early in season by four, in a game which was quite even throughout. The Torchman flickered early, falling behind 7-0 on baskets aby Kyle, Seth (a three) and Lucas. The slow-paced first quarter ended with the Patriots ahead 11-4. HSRC extended the lead to ten at 18-8 before Southside went on a run. They got as close as four, but Josh scored just before halftime to make it 23-17 going into the break.

If the Torchman had any ideas about making it a game, the Patriots quickly squashed them. They scored the first nine points of the quarter and Southside got no closer than thirteen in the quarter. HSRC then scored the last seven in the quarter to make it 41-21 at the end of the quarter. The defensive intensity continued into the early part of the fourth quarter. Southside only scored on a three in the first half of the quarter, while the Patriots scored nine, giving them the biggest lead of the game, twenty-six. Southside scored a little at the end but got no closer than the final twenty-four point final difference. Kyle won scoring honors with seventeen, while Josh had sixteen and Seth thirteen. Lucas had ten rebounds, Josh nine and Kyle had seven. Lucas and Seth each had four assists and Nate had three. Lucas also led with four steals, with Josh, Seth and Kyle adding three each. The team had eleven turnovers, quite a contrast to the twenty-six they committed on Monday.

The junior high team had another two tough games. The familiar story repeated itself both Monday and Thursday, with the boys playing hard, the shots not going down, and the opponent being much larger than our team. The boys played their hearts out on Monday, but as mentioned, other than Caleb Y. working down low, the shots would not fall. As usual, the defense was good, but the offense didn't get going until the second half. By that time the deficit was nine, and the boys ended up losing by fourteen, 33-19. Caleb Y. had a big game, scoring fifteen and pulling down fourteen rebounds. Against Southside, the size discrepancy was even more glaring, as Southside has several ninth-graders on their squad (Calumet has at least one). The lead was 13-5 after one quarter. We couldn't get the ball to go down in the second, with Caleb getting knocked around inside by their big players and our outside players not hitting their shots. The boys could only get two points total in the second and third quarters and trailed by twenty going into the fourth. We nearly doubled our score in the fourth, scoring six, including a basket by Mark. The final was 33-13. Caleb scored all the other points besides Mark's basket and nabbed nine rebounds.

Luther East is the varsity's opponent on Monday night. That game will be played at St. John Lutheran in Lansing. On Friday and Saturday the varsity will be participating in the Kankakee Trinity Academy tournament, with the first game against the host team on Friday at 8:30. The junior high does not have any games this week, but will have a practice on Thursday.

Late recap

2012-01-22T19:55:00.000-08:00

A short recap of last weekend's tournaments games:

First up on Friday was Heritage Chrisitian, a team so strong that last year we played their JV and lost. Heritage had already played and won their first game and looked pretty good doing it, though probably not as good as they looked last year. The guys played well defensively, but couldn't put the ball in the hole. Heritage pushed the lead out gradually, leading by five at the end of the first quarter, eleven at half, sixteen after three and 24 at the closing horn, 53-29. The boys shot only 21% for the game, 11 of 51, and only two of fifteen from three. Josh had eleven rebounds, Lucas has six steals, Nate led with three assists and Seth was the top scorer with eleven.

Portage was the opponent in our first game in the losers' bracket. We had lost to them by twelve early in the season. Portage was coming off of a loss to KTA in the first round. In this one, our defensive effort was again very good, and the offense picked up as well. The Patriots led by six at halftime after a big second quarter, overcoming a three-point deficit after the first quarter. Portage cut that lead in half by the end of the third quarter, cutting HSRC's lead to 35-32. The Patriots fell behind 38-37 after a Portage run, but answered that with six straight points, four from Josh. About this time, though, Nate fouled out. Portage outscored the Patriots 8-3 to close the quarter, their last three on a three from #2 with about three seconds left. Without Nate, it was tough for us in the fourth and Portage played with renewed energy. Portage jumped out in front early in the overtime period, but the Patriots tied it up at 51 on a three-point play from Lucas. Portage scored the next six, four on free throws. After a Lucas free throw and a Seth three, it was a two point game. Portage split two free throws, giving the Patriots the ball with a few seconds left, but Lucas three attempt went off the rim, and we were in the consolation game against Victory. Lucas and Josh each had 20 points Josh also had thirteen rebounds and Kyle had six assists.

We again played great defense in the consolation game, at least in the first half. We trailed 21-15 at halftime. We lost our shooting touch again, and this game we also weren't hitting our free throws. After shooting 19 for 27 from the line in the first two games and hitting our first two in this one, we missed nine straight. And then in the second half, Victory's star transfer student started hitting long, off balance threes. There really wasn't much we could do about that. He was seven for eleven from three in the second half, and he also hit a lot of short jumpers. He scored 24 in the third, all of his team's points, and 17 in the fourth. Overall he was 16 for 23 in the half. And the crazy thing is, we didn't play bad defense. When a guy like that is on, there isn't much a team can do. Of course our poor shooting didn't help. Seth led our guys in scoring with sixteen and Josh had thirteen rebounds.

We finally get back on the court again tomorrow against Calumet at their home court at Lincoln Center in Highland, IN - junior high at 4:30 and varsity following. Thursday is a home game against Southside - same game times. See you there.

Cold start

2012-01-14T06:29:00.000-08:00

The Patriots opened up the Calumet tournament with a loss last night, 53-29 to the Heritage Defenders, sort of the host school. By sort of, I mean it was played at Heritage but the tournament is hosted by Calumet. Heritage is tough enough, but a combination of extremely cold shooting by the Patriots, tough defense by Heritage, Jacob Zylstra, and home court advantage made them seemingly invincible in the contest.

At first it looked like both defenses would dominate, as mid-way through the quarter it was 4-2, Heritage. Seth pulled HSRC to within on when he split two free throws, but Heritage scored six straight before Kyle scored. Heritage split two of their own free throws before the quarter ended to give them a six-point lead going into the second. After Josh scored inside, Heritage scored a couple of basket. Josh split two free throws, then following a Heritage three, scored inside again. Heritage hit another three before halftime to make it 21-10 game entering the break. At this point HSRC had hit only four of thirty from the field - 13.3%.

It looked like things might turn around in the second half as Seth hit his first shot, a three, to open the scoring. Heritage, however, answered with their own three. Set scored again, but Heritage continued to squash whatever hope we had, this time by answering with a three, then another, then the consecutive baskets to open a 21-point lead. HSRC managed to get back to withing seventeen before quarter end. The guys really couldn't anything going, never getting closer than fifteen in the quarter. Heritage made a fluury of threes, while all we could manage after Seth brought us to withing fifteen was two free throws by Lucas and basket by Nate. I will have the stats when I summarize the tournament in a later post.

Double digit wins

2012-01-12T18:49:00.000-08:00

The guys had a relatively easy time of it Tuesday, leading throughout our fourth home game of the season and pulling away to a 63-39 victory over the visiting Christian Haven Eagles. It was nice to see some more family and friends attending our second game at Crete Elementary. We have three more home games, all at Crete Elementary, this year - come on out and support the Patriots if you can.

Seth and Kyle set the tone early in the game, each making their first three point attempts. The scoring for HSRC in the quarter was very balanced. Seth had six (scoring a three, a two and a one - that to complete an old-fashioned three point play); Nate, Kyle and Josh each had three; and Lucas had two. The defense was strong at half court - the Patriots forced a lot of turnovers in the quarter - but not as strong as they could have been after CH got through the trapping. CH shot five for nine in the quarter and scored eleven. Ball movement picked up in the second quarter, with the team, especially Nate, regularly finding the open man inside. Josh and Kyle each scored six in the quarter, with Seth, Lucas and Nate each adding two. The defense recovered better in the quarter, holding CH to 27% shooting on three for eleven, while the trapping defense continued to force turnovers. At half the Patriots led 35-18.

The third quarter was a little more wide open. As has been the team's pattern, they scored the most points, twenty, in the third. HSRC was very effective working the ball inside in the quarter. Josh was perfect from the field, making five of five, and from the line, making both of his free throws. Kyle added four, and Nate and Seth each had a basket. CH found the range from three, though, and were able to put fourteen on the board, but the Patriots still had their biggest lead of the game to that point at the end of the quarter, 55-32. Coach Boss played his bench players much of the fourth, and also called off the pressing defense. HSRC only took ten shots in the quarter, making four. The change in defense seemed to rattle CH, as they made only three of fifteen shots, including one-for-eight from three. While the offense relaxed a little, the defense worked hard in the half-court to keep the opposition under forty, their goal for each game.

Josh led in scoring with 23, shooting 10-for-18 from the field and making three of four free throws. He also had rebounding honors with fourteen and added five steals. Kyle had fifteen points and eight rebounds, as well as the highlight of the night, when he blocked a shot by basically grabbing it out of the shooter's hand as he shot. Lucas had six points, five steals and three assists. Nate chipped in seven while leading the team in assists with five and adding three steals. Seth scored twelve, but his main accomplishment was helping to slow down #23, who scored 16 against us the last time we played. This time he only scored seven. Seth also had three steasl and two assists.

No practice tonight because of the snow (c'mon, we're midwesterners - this little bit of snow shouldn't stopped us - but I digress), so we go directly to the opening game of the tournament tomorrow. We open against Granger tomorrow at 6:00. Reminder - the tournament has been moved to Heritage Christian High in Dyer, 10790 Calumet. Granger is 4-9 on the season, but they have played some good teams tough. There really aren't any weak teams in this tournament, so the guys will have to bring their "A" game if they hope to win it. It makes me smile to write that sentence. It's just so unreal to even consider winning this tournament, considering what our chances were last year.

If anyone wants to see how our conference looks, here is a link to the Maxpreps page for it: http://www.maxpreps.com/league/aRNnhYpv-U69LyuTg-Ws1Q/standings-south-shore-christian.htm. Standings, individual team stats and upcoming games involving conference teams can be found here. Our teams' page is: http://www.maxpreps.com/high-schools/homeschool-resource-center-patriots-(monee,il)/basketball/home.htm. You can see all of stats, schedule, etc. here.

We are currently 10-3, 5-1 in the conference. We are 2-1 against western division teams (3-1 if you include our tournament victory over Families of Faith), which include Portage Christian, Calumet Christian, Luther East, Families of Faith Academy, and us. Christian Haven was originally in our division, that is why we have two games against them. Quite a contrast to last years. And it certainly a team effort. It's remarkable how we have three or four players in each stat category about at the same level.

Ugly but effective

2012-01-08T17:51:00.000-08:00

It wasn't really pretty, but Coach Boss thought it looked pretty good, at least until Grace's 10-4 run at the end of the game. The result was the right one, with the Patriots defeating Grace Baptist at their place Friday 41-24.

It was the tightest-called high school game that I can recall, and of course with our small roster it is much more difficult for us to handle. Sure enough, before the first quarter was over, Josh and Nate had two fouls each. Despite that, our defense was still effective. They held the Crusaders to two-for-eleven shooting. The Patriots weren't much better. Josh made two-of-three, but the rest of the team made only one out of nine. Scoring picked up in the second. HSRC found the range from three, making three in the quarter. The game remained tight early. Grace scored to open the quarter to tie it. HSRC's first three put them back in the lead, which Grace cut into with a pair of free throws. The Patriots scored inside on a couple of baskets to push the lead out to five Grace scored again on a field goal. It was at this point that the Patriots started to put some distance between them and Grace. A three followed by a couple of inside baskets, the second by Kyle made it a ten-point game. Grace scored on a free throw to break the streak, but Peter answered with a three (to the great delight of the crowd). He was playing because of foul trouble, as Lucas, Nate and Josh each picked up their third fouls before halftime. That was the last score of the half and the Patriots went to the locker room with a 23-11 lead.

Kyle opened the scoring in the half. Grace matched his basket but Josh was fouled and made two free throws. Seth followed that with two free throws of his own. (Those were four of the five free throws attempted by HSRC for the game; Grace went to the line fifteen times.) Grace then followed with free throw, but Seth and Josh each scored from the field to close out the third-quarter scoring. HSRC pushed out the lead to 23 early in the fourth. Nate scored followed by a basket from Josh on a nice pass from Seth. With a 37-14 lead, the guys got a little sloppy. Grace scored twice before Nate scored again. Two more Grace scores followed. Lucas got the last HSRC points on a put-back. Grace scored once more but that was it.

Josh led in scoring with fourteen, helped by his height advantage. Kyle had eight, Seth seven, Lucas five, Nate four and Peter had three. Josh also led in rebounding with eleven, with Kyle adding nine and Nate pulling down eight. Seth had a nice passing game, totaling six assists. Kyle and Josh both had three steals.

The Patriots are now 9-3 on the year. Their next game is a conference game, Tuesday at our home court at Crete Elementary against Christian Haven. On Friday at 6PM, the boys will play Granger Christian in their opening game of the Calumet Tournament,. The tournament venue has changed to Heritage Christian High in Dyer.

The junior high continued to struggle, losing both of their games last week. On Thursday we played the Crestwood Cavalry. They also use Hidden Cove for their home court, so we traveled the familiar road down their, but had to remember to sit on the visitor bench this time. Crestwood's varsity has always played strong defense, and the junior high kept up the tradition. It also helped they were, as all of our opponents are, much talled that our team. We couldn't get the ball inside and our outside shots wouldn't fall. At halftime we were down 17-0. After halftime, we were able to get the ball inside a little, and Caleb was able to get to the line. He scored two while the defense, which had difficulty getting back in the first half, improved greatly and held Crestwood to two as well. Caleb kept it up in the fourth, scoring seven more and Charles added a basket. Crestwood got hot shooting in the fourth and were able to score ten including two threes, so the final was 29-11.

On Friday we faced Grace, another team quite a bit bigger than ours. They also had a couple of very good players. We were able to neutralize their inside game, but they were very hot from the outside. This time were able to score - well Caleb, anyway - in the first half, but Grace slowly increased the lead throughout the half. In the second half, #15 from Grace took over from #25, who had ten points in the first half. #15 scored six of their eight in the quarter, while we went completely cold and got shut out. Henry heated up in the fourth, and he and Caleb each scored four. The boys played good defense, holding Grace to two, but again it was too little, too late and the Patriots went down, 32-17.
Caleb scored thirteen and Henry had four. Caleb also had eight rebounds and four steals.

The junior high boys play tomorrow at 4:15 at Glenwood School (yes, Glenwood again). Glenwood didn't get a team together until late, so they were looking for games. That is why we are playing them three times. No games after that for a while, but we do have practice on Thursday.

Late game heroics again

2011-12-21T19:40:00.000-08:00

The Patriots followed their usual pattern Monday night, falling behind early, then finishing strong as they defeated the Families of Faith Christian Academy Screaming Eagles, 55-42. This time the rally didn't start until the fourth quarter. The Patriots led only by two entering the last period, but a fourteen point run in the quarter clinched it for the Patriots.

In the prelude, the junior high team went down to defeat again, this time by the score of 32-15. Again the story was not enough size, not enough shooting. We knew Caleb was going to be in for a long night when we saw one of their starters was also in their varsity rotation. He was an inch or two taller than Caleb, but probably outweighed him by forty pounds. Between that and the fact that FOFCA kept up a full court press most of the game, the Patriots had a long night. At first we had some success at beating the press, and our half-court defense was solid as usual. However, Caleb was being smothered in the post by their big man, and we managed only three, all by Caleb Y, in the quarter. The guys kept FOFCA somewhat in check, giving up only six, but four were from the free throw line by their center due to two fouls on Caleb. He eased up a little in the second, and their big man got free for six, while #8 also scored six. Caleb Y. matched his output with three, but again that was all our scoring, and we trailed 18-6 at half.

Our shooting completely abandoned us in the third quarter. We took ten shots and none went in. Caleb Y. was suffering a little from the effects of a bloody nose, so he sat for a short time. On the other end of the court, the guys continued to play good defense, and held FOFCA to six so the lead was eighteen going into the fourth. Caleb Y really got going in the quarter, scoring seven and Charles added a bucket on a fast break. FOFCA continued their steady pace on offense, pouring in eight, so while we "won" the quarter, it was too little too late.

Caleb Y. led the team with thirteen of the fifteen points. Charles scored the other two. Caleb also blocked two shots and added two steals.

Back to the varsity. These two teams faced each other in the opening game at the Victory tournament, and HSRC had little trouble with them, opening up a 22 point lead by the end of the third quarter and cruising to a fifteen point win. However, we heard that they had defeated Victory, who had a full squad that night, and figured they were improved and were going to come in with a lot of confidence. And that was the case. After Lucas opened the scoring, their 6'7" center popped in a three. Lucas matched it to put HSRC up two, but FOFCA tied it right back up. After Kyle scored to tie it at seven, FOFCA scored five in a row, including another three by their big #5. The teams traded baskets until the end of the quarter, with FOFCA still holding a five-point lead, 16-11. Seth had the hot hand to open the second, scoring the first five of the quarter to tie it up. Josh then got free inside to put the Patriots ahead. Two more baskets by Seth stretched the lead to six and HSRC had the ball, but FOFCA scored on a turnover. Seth made it twelve for him for the quarter with a three to give HSRC its biggest lead of the game at 25-18, but FOFCA scored the last four of the quarter on a put-back and a jumper to make it a three-point game at half.

Lucas and Seth scored to open the second half, and it looked like another big third quarter for the Patriots. #5 had something to say about that, scoring the next six points. FOFCA added a free throw to tie it up. Seth put us back on top, but #5 hit two free throws. Kyle then went to the line after being fouled on a shot attempt, and he made them both. #5 scored again off an offensive rebound, but Kyle made a field goal to put HSRC back up by two entering the fourth. HSRC came out strong again. Lucas and Nate opened with field goals, and after Seth split two free throws, the lead was back up to seven. Their point guard snuck inside for a layup. After an HSRC miss, #5 hit two more free throws to make it 40-37, but that was all the scoring for a while for FOFCA. Lucas had five (a three and a two), Kyle four, Nate three (basket and a free throw) and Seth two in the run. FOFCA finally got back on the board with two foul shots, and after a Seth free throw, hit a late three to finish the scoring.

Seth led the team in scoring, ending up with 21, twelve of those in the second quarter. Lucas added sixteen and Kyle ten. The S brothers both ended up with double-digit rebounds, Kyle hauling down thirteen and Josh eleven. Nate led defensively with eight steals and six blocks. Seth led the team in assists with six.

The boys are 8-3 heading into the break, winning more games before the holidays that the previous two seasons combined. They lead the conference with a 4-1 record, tied with Portage (who has the head-to-head advantage having defeated the Patriots, giving them their only loss in the conference). Interestingly, the three top teams in the west each have one loss - ours coming at the hands of Portage, who lost to Calumet, who lost to our guys. The conference race should be interesting right down to the wire.

No games now until Friday, January 6 at Grace Baptist in Kankakee. Our next home game is Tuesday, January 10 against Christian Haven. We will be hosting them at Crete Elementary. Hopefully we will have some sort of scoreboard at that one. Practices over the break will be Tuesday and Thursday, December 27 and 29 from 3:00 to 5:00 at the South Suburban Sports Complex, just off 394 in Crete. Both varsity and junior high will practice as we have two courts.

Merry Christmas, everyone!!

Ugly win

2011-12-17T06:55:00.000-08:00

The guys spent a lot of time preparing for the Victory team they faced a couple of weeks ago in the Victory tournament championship game. The team they played last night was not the same team. Victory's star guard did not play, and the guys looked like they didn't know quite what to do for stretches during the game, especially the second quarter, but eventually they figured it out, in time for a 49-41 victory in Valparaiso, improving their record to 7-3 and 3-1 in the conference.

I didn't get there until almost the end of the first quarter (thank you Friday night 80-94 traffic), and by that time the guys were up 12-4. Per the dad I was sitting with, the first quarter belonged to Kyle, who was driving and finishing, scoring all eight of his points in the quarter. VCA was limited to a three and a free throw to that point, and it looked like HSRC might cruise to the win. Not so fast. VCA's #2 came out strong to open the second, opening the scoring with a three followed a old-fashioned three - scoring on the the free throw when he was fouled while scoring. His teammates joined in the fun as VCA went on a ten-point run to take the lead at 14-12. On the offensive side, the Patriots couldn't find the basket from the outside, and Victory's interior defense was solid. Seth did finally stop the run. After a Lions free throw, Lucas finally found the basket to put the Patriots back on top. Nate followed this with a score, but that was all the scoring for the Patriots for the half. A Lions bucket pulled them to within one, then #2 popped in another three to put VCA back on top. A crazy off-balance three off an offensive rebound at the buzzer completed Victory's eight-point run to close the half and gave VCA its largest lead of the game, 23-18.

VCA opened the scoring in the second half with a basket, but the inside game showed a little life here. Nate got fouled and made one of two free throws, and Josh scored to pull the Patriots to within four, but VCA quickly answered with two more scores. Lucas, as he as done before this season, asserted himself after halftime. He followed a three with a two-pointer to cut the lead to three. Victory scored two more baskets sandwiched around a Seth free throw to make it a six point game, but Seth made back-to-back threes, the second near the horn to pull the Patriots back even at 33-33. Victory opened the scoring in the fourth, but the Patriots went on an eight-point run to go up six, with Lucas scoring six of the eight on two baskets and a pair of free throws. The Patriots never let the Lions get closer than four after that, as the Patriot ball-movement improved greatly, freeing up the middle for some baskets by Nate (2) and Josh. Seth completed the scoring on a layup, and the Patriots had their first win ever over Victory. Ugly, but effective.

Seth and Lucas each had thirteen points to lead the team. Josh and Kyle had eight apiece and Nate added seven. Ethan and Peter each got some playing time due to foul trouble but neither scored. Nate led in rebounding with eleven, with Josh adding nine and Lucas eight. Nate also led the team with four assists and three blocks. Seth and Kyle had three assists each, and Josh led the team in steals with three.

The Patriots now have as many wins this year, before Christmas, as they had the two prior years combined. Each of those first two years, however, included one victory over a JV team, so this year's team is already ahead in varsity victories. The big improvement has been on the offensive side; while the 2011-2012 edition is giving up about two points less than the average of the first two seasons, the scoring is up nearly twenty-five points a game. In comparison to last year, a better year than the first, the defense is giving up less than one point per game fewer (47.5 vs. 48.1), but scoring is up twenty-one points per game (54 vs 32.8). Eight times this year the Patriots scored more in a game that their highest-scoring game of the past two years. Individually, records broken include points in a game (Seth with 28 against Grace, breaking Justin's record of 23) and assists in a game (9, by Seth against Calumet, breaking his own record of eight, set against Community).

Next up is Families of Faith Christian Academy, who is coming off a big upset of Victory last Tuesday. We will be taking on the Screaming Eagles on Monday on our home court at Hidden Cove. Junior high is at 5:30 with varsity to follow. See you there.

Getting there

2011-12-14T20:30:00.000-08:00

Yesterday afternoon the junior high boys traveled again to Glenwood to play Glenwood School. We had just played them a couple of weeks ago, suffering one of our worst losses of the year, 42-17. Glenwood played a 1-2-2 defense, and we didn't really have a good offense to run against it. Then. This time we adjusted, which cut down down our turnovers and the resulting Glenwood fast break. We were again on the short end of the score, but this time it was only 26-19 and we had a chance up to the end.
It didn't look good at first, however, as we adjusted to our new offense and gave up the ball for easy baskets early. The boys got a little run going at the end of the first quarter, scoring the last four, and trailed only 12-7 at the end of a quarter. We slowed them down in the second, cutting out the turnovers and fast breaks while playing very good half-court defense. Our offense struggled as the boys had trouble getting shots off. Glenwood outscored us 6-5 in the quarter, as Charles scored from the free throw line to pull the Patriots withing six at half.

The even play continued in the third quarter. Caleb D. knocked down a shot from the corner. Caleb Y. was working hard down low, but the physical play of Glenwood kept him in check for a time. Late in the quarter he got free for a short shot which he made while being fouled. He made the free throw to draw the Patriots to within five, but Glenwood scored the final basket of the quarter to take a 24-17 lead into the fourth quarter. Caleb's hard work in the paint paid off with four trips to the line early in the quarter and he made two to again cut the lead to five. Meanwhile the defense was very strong, holding Glenwood to one for eleven shooting, but they couldn't find the basket after Caleb's free throws.

Caleb led the team with ten points and fourteen rebounds. Caleb D added four, Charles three and David got his first basket for the other two points. Hopefully the boys can carry the momentum from this game into their next (Monday against Families of Faith at Hidden Cover) and get their first victory.

Strong down the stretch

2011-12-09T07:59:00.001-08:00

The Patriots showed their resiliency once again last night, coming from as far back as eight, and from a five-point deficit to open the fourth, to defeat the Southside Torchmen 45-41 last night in Oak Lawn. The junior high team was not as successful though they did play a strong fourth quarter, cutting an eighteen-point deficit to twelve, but eventually falling 26-14.

We knew the junior high game was going to be tough, as Southside plays several ninth-graders on their team. The report from the junior high soccer coach was that they had one very tall, talented ninth-grader on that team, and sure enough, there he was warming up on the basketball team. From the start, he clogged up the middle on defense and was the go-to guy on offense. Caleb found the going rough inside from the beginning, with every shot contested and several blocked. Matt did get us on the board early, but the Patriots trailed 7-3 after one quarter. Southside really came out strong in the second. They shut down the lane completely on defense, and the offense was a little more diverse, with six of their players scoring. The ball wasn't going in for us from the outside much, but Charles and Matt each knocked down a jumper. Southside scored thirteen in the quarter however, and led 20-7 at half. Our defense was stronger in the third, but our offense was very quiet. Caleb's free throw was our only scoring, and while we kept Southside in check much of the quarter, they did score a couple of baskets late to make it 26-8 at the end of three. As mentioned, the boys picked it up in the fourth, playing tough defense and shutting out the Torchmen, but the offense was only good, not great. Caleb got free for two baskets underneath and Henry got one from the outside, but it was much too little too late.

The requisite history lesson: We have played Southside's varsity the last two years, and while the scores were similar (58-40, 57-30), we actually were better the second year than the first, when they put their junior high team in for the fourth and we outscored them 20-0 in the quarter. Last year the lead increased gradually throughout the game. Once again, though, TIADY (This Is A Different Year). But once again, the Patriots started out like nothing had changed. Southside's offense was tailored to the gym, with a lot of short interior passes and good movement, and HSRC had difficulty in stopping them. On the other end, the guys had trouble adjusting their offense to the narrow confines of the Torchmen's court. A Southside free throw made it 12-4, but as in the Calumet game, the guys didn't get down, they just set to work to come back. Seth got fouled and made the free throws, then Lucas, who started the game cold, scored and it was 12-8 at the end of the first quarter. The teams traded baskets to begin the second until Seth followed two Kyle free throws with a basket to bring the Patriots to within two at 16-14. Southside then completed a three-point play. Seth and Josh sandwich field goals around another Southside score to make it 21-18 at half.

As has been their pattern, the Patriots came out flying to begin the second half. Lucas split two free throws which Josh followed with two free throws and a bucket. Kyle completed the scoring streak with a jumper to give HSRC a four-point lead. Southside answered with three straight baskets and Coach Boss called a timeout. Southside scored again, but then Lucas and Seth scored two each to tie it at 29. Southside then scored seven of the last nine points of the quarter to give them the lead at 36-31, their largest lead since the first quarter. After the two teams traded baskets to open the fourth, Coach Boss stopped stretching out the defense, and packed the 2-3 zone down tight. The two top defenders popped out to challenge the three's, but otherwise stayed around the free throw line. This completely frustrated the Torchmen. They did not score again until around a minute left in the game, while the Patriots scored twelve straight. Baskets from Kyle, Lucas, Josh, Kyle again, Seth and finally Josh again put the Patriots up 45-38. Southside stopped the run with a three, but that was it for scoring in the game. We had a little trouble with the concept of running out the clock, but no damage was done, nor was there any more scoring.

Josh and Seth led the team in scoring with fourteen each, while Kyle added ten and Lucas seven. There was little rebounding in the game, mostly because of the close quarters, ball were often knocked out of bounds before anyone could get possession. Josh led in this category with six, and Kyle and Nate added five each. Kyle and Lucas each had four assists. Seth set the team season high with ten steals (another function of the small gym - lots of steals and turnovers) and Kyle had seven. Nate had three blocked shots and he and Kyle had three deflections, a new stat category I'm tracking. Also, Josh took two charges, I believe our first charges taken this year, and probably should of had three.

Next week we play Luther East on Monday at 6PM at St. John Lutheran in Lansing, then a big rematch at Victory in Valpo on Friday at 7:30. SYT.

Torched again by a point guard, different result

2011-12-06T18:58:00.001-08:00

I don't think there's a better conference (at least among small Christian schools and homeschool teams) for point guards than the South Shore Christian Conference. Lee at Victory, Darric at Calumet, Micah from Families of Faith, and our very own Seth are a pretty talented group. Saturday was Victory and Lee S., and last night it was Calumet Christian and Darric O. down in Bourbonnais.

Before the varsity match the junior high team took the floor for our fourth game of the season. Calumet has a very talented little guard that we had trouble with all night. And they have Devon as well. Devon did play very well against us, but Ishmael, #10, did most of the damage against us. As we were missing shot after shot in the first quarter, he kept knifing to the basket for layups. After one, we were down 13-3. The defense stepped up in the second, shutting out CCS, but the offense could only match their output from the first quarter, with Caleb Y. getting a free throw and Matt making a jumper. All the momentum we had going into the half quickly dissipated under an onslaught of baskets from Ishmael. Once again three was all we could manage, all from Caleb. The boys played loose in the fourth. Caleb kept working down low, and it finally paid off. He scored seven in the quarter, three from the line. Caleb D. knocked down both field goals he attempted and HSRC scored more in the quarter - eleven - than they had the first three quarters. The final was 33-20.

I don't know why I keep recapping last year's games against the teams that we have just played, because our team is so different last year, but here goes. Three times the Patriots played the Patriots, and three times the homeschool Patriot went down, getting outscored by 95 in the three games. The boys did get the margin down to fifteen by the last time we played them.

At first, it looked the game was going to resemble the first two game against Calumet last year - forty point blowouts. Darric popped in a three to get things started. Seth answered with basket, but another three by Darric was followed by another three, then two two-pointers made it 13-2. However, the guys turned it around at this point, with Kyle stopping the bleeding with a basket which Seth followed with a free throw, then a three-pointer to pull HSRC within five. Nate scored to make it a three-point game, but CCS scored before quarter end to make it 15-10 after one. Kyle started the scoring in the second with a three. From there to about a minute left in the half, the lead was between two and six for Calumet. The lead was four at about the one-minute mark, but Darric took over at that point, scoring two threes and a two with a steal thrown it before halftime, giving CCS a 33-21 lead, with Darric scoring 22 of the 33.

The lead got as big as fourteen early in the third quarter. Lucas, who hadn't scored in the first half, started to hit his stride. He scored, then Seth put in a three to pull our guys to within nine. Lucas scored again to make it seven, and the lead ranged between seven and ten before the quarter ended with CCS leading 44-35. Lucas got our guys to within six with a quarter-opening three, The blue Patriots had started figuring out the press in the third, and they pretty much had it mastered by the fourth, throwing the ball over the top for several layups. Two baskets following Lucas' score completed the seven point run and brought HSRC to within two. CCS answered that with seven straight of their own to push the lead back out to nine. The teams traded two baskets each. The press break really started working here, with HSRC going on a 13-1 run, getting conventional three-point plays from Seth, Lucas and Kyle. Josh got free for two baskets, and was fouled on the second, but missed the free throw. A questionable foul was called on scramble for the ball after a missed HSRC shot that would have given our guys a five point lead, and CCS hit both free throws. After a turnover, Darric was fouled again. This time he split the the two free throws to tie it and that was it for scoring in regulation. Nate opened the scoring in the overtime period. After a CCS basket, Josh got free underneath for a basket. CCS tied it up again, then Lucas and Josh scored to give HSRC a four-point lead. After a defensive stop, Lucas got fouled and made one of two to make it 68-63. Darric quickly answered with a three and after a missed layup, Calumet tied it at 68. Seth got free for a layup after breaking the press, and the stole the ball and dribbled out the clock, giving the blue Patriots a thrilling 70-68 overtime victory. I don't know what it is about Hidden Cove, but it seems like we have all our nailbiters there.

After shooting 31% in the first half, our guys shot 67% in the second half. They didn't turn around their free-throw shooting, however, hitting only 7 of 21 for the game. Seth led the team in scoring with 24. Lucas added eighteen, all after the half, Josh had thirteen, Kyle nine and Nate six. Josh has twelve rebounds with Kyle and Nate adding ten each. Seth broke the team record for assists (again) with nine and added four steals. Kyle had two blocks to lead the team.

Yet another team we have had trouble with is up next - Southside Baptist on Thursday. Junior high at 4:30 and varsity at 6, in Oak Lawn. See you there.

Learning and growing

2011-12-04T16:20:00.001-08:00

I guess we shouldn't be disappointed. Last year if we would have gotten to the championship game, it would have been the highlight of our year. Of course our performance in the tournament last year shouldn't be a the standard by which we should be judged this year.

But enough about my coaching ability.

The Patriots had a chance of upsetting and dethroning Victory Christian in their own tournament, leading 41-39 early in the fourth quarter before faltering, eventually losing 62-52 to the host team.

The two teams are quite a bit different than they were last year. Victory had a very strong team, led by two seniors. This year they have a very strong team, led by a transfer from Calumet High (not Calumet Christian). HSRC had a major makeover, with only two holdovers from last season. While Victory remains at a high level, HSRC is making the long climb from where they were, winning only three and four games the last two years.

The game started out with each team kind of feeling each other out. Victory had been averaging about 75 points a game to this point, so holding them to fourteen in the quarter was an accomplishment. Nate came out on fire for the game, playing great defense, passing smartly and hauling down rebounds. The team, however, had trouble getting shots to fall. Thankfully they made up for it with offensive rebounds. I counted eight for the quarter, so despite shooting only 25% for the quarter, the Patriots only trailed by two. The game seemed to slow down in the second quarter, with some physical play under the basket. The Patriots got off only six shots (making one) in the quarter after taking twenty in the first. They made their points from the line, shooting six for ten. The defense continued playing at a high level, holding VCA to 33% shooting for the quarter (32% for the half) and twelve points.

The Patriots made up the five point deficit pretty quickly in the second half. I believe that HSRC caught up at 27 after a three by Lucas. Lucas and Nate carried the team offensively in the quarter, with Lucas scoring nine, getting his points inside and out, and Nate scored four while continuing his active work on defense and the boards. He also was the outlet for the press break that the Patriots executed successfully for the most part. The Patriots also slowed the passes through the zone to open players in the short corners that VCA pulled off several times in the first half. VCA managed two threes among the five shots they made in the quarter, which helped keep HSRC from opening a larger lead than three, which was the largest lead the Patriots had in the quarter, at 37-34. One of those threes tied it up, but the Patriots went up with another field goal before the end of the quarter. VCA tied the game early in the fourth, but Seth put us back up by two. That was the last score for a while for the Patriots. Victory ran off thirteen straight points, scoring inside, outside and from the free throw line. The Patriots were cold during this stretch but also had trouble holding onto the ball. Finally Seth knocked down a three to break the string. Josh scored inside after a defensive stop to make it a six point game, but that was as close as they could get the remainder of the game. VCA scored two, then Josh answered with a basket, 54-48. That was repeated twice more to make it 58-52, but Victory scored the last four points to finish the game. For the quarter the teams shot a similar percentage, but Victory went to the line nine times in the quarter to zero for the Patriots.

Josh led in scoring with fifteen after a flurry of inside baskets in the fourth quarter. Seth added thirteen and Lucas had eleven. Three Patriots were in double digit in rebounds: Kyle had eleven while Josh and Nate had ten each. The passing was very good in the game: Kyle had seven assists and Lucas had four. Seth had four steals and Nate rounded out his exceptional performance with three blocks. Lucas and Seth were named to the all-tournament team as well.

To get to the championship game, the Patriots had to defeat another conference opponent, Families of Faith Christian from Channahon, IL. The Patriots had defeated FOFCA two years ago, but lost last year by one point when several players couldn't start and two junior high team players had to start. At the risk of sounding repetitive, this is a different year. For a very short time, the game was close. FOFCA scored the first basket, then went up 3-2 after a free throw. HSRC scored the next basket and never trailed again in the game. By the end of the first quarter the lead was 17-5. The zone defense was frustrating their big man as well as their point guard. HSRC kept up the offense in the second half, matching the seventeen scored in the first, but FOFCA's offense got a track on little and they were able to score eleven in the second. In the third, the only Patriot shooting well was Lucas, who made three of four in the quarter and completed a three-point play by making a free throw. Josh was the only other Patriot to score. The defense was stifling, as it often is after the half, and FOFCA was only able to score on two threes. Coach Boss had already sat down Seth with a twenty-point lead, and he kept them there as the Patriots started the fourth with a 44-22 lead. FOFCA played hyperkinetically (officially the longest word I've used in a blog post) in the fourth, which resulted in twelve points, but it took them seventeen shots to get there. Meanwhile the Patriots, playing their bench players, only managed five points, but with the game comfortably in hand, it was more than enough in the 49-34 win.

Lucas led in scoring with seventeen, shooting six for eleven with two three-pointers and three free throws. Seth had fifteen and Josh eleven. Kyle led in rebounding with twelve, but Lucas added ten from his guard position. Seth and Josh each had four steals to lead the team. Kyle had five assists and Nate two blocks to lead the team in those categories.

On Thursday, the guys traveled all the way out to an eerily empty and quiet gym in Wheatfield, IN for a conference game against Christian Haven. HSRC got one of their wins against Christian Haven last year on a last-second shot by Lucas at our first home game ever, at Hidden Cove. The Patriots started slowly against CH, leading only by one, 13-12 at the end of the first. CH's #24 was hot in the quarter, scoring inside and out. The Patriots play was rough and at time seemed unfocused. But, as has happened often this year, the team came out after halftime ready to play. They carried the play into the fourth, out scoring CH 31-13 in the half for a final of 56-33. Four Patriots scored in double figures: Seth with seventeen, Lucas fourteen, Kyle twelve and Josh 10. Kyle pulled down fifteen boards, team high for the year while brother Josh had ten. Four players had either two or three assists and Josh led the team in steals with four.

Tomorrow we host Calumet Christian at Hidden Cove, junior high at 5:30 and varsity at 6:30. The Patriots' varsity lost to CCS three times last year, so hopefully we can change that. On Thursday we travel to Oak Lawn to play Southside, junior high at 4:30 and varsity at 6:00.

Good start, not so good finish

2011-11-28T18:48:00.001-08:00

The young Patriots struggled tonight against another taller and faster (and older) opponent, losing to the Glenwood Wildcats 42-17 in Glenwood's gym. The Patriots started strong, knocking down two outside shots, one by Matt and the other by Caleb D. to take a 4-2 lead, but that was the high point of the evening. Glenwood scored two more baskets in the quarter while all we could manage was a free throw by Henry, and we were down 6-5 at the end of the first quarter. Glenwood changed to a 1-2-2 defense to start the second quarter, and we really didn't have an answer for it. With the top three defenders smothering our point guard and two wing players, we committed several turnovers which Glenwood converted to fast breaks. While Glenwood was streaking down the court and getting layups, as well as making a three, all we could manage int the first four and a half minutes of the quarter was a free throw by Caleb Y. The boys started clicking on offense a little to end the half, however. Caleb Y. got fouled again and split his free throws. Henry then made a nice move to shake his defender and knocked down a jumper, and Caleb finished the mini-streak with a nice move inside for a basket. This pulled the Patriots to within eight at half, 19-11.

The halftime seemed to take away our momentum, and Glenwood really dialed up the defense to start the second half. Glenwood scored seven very quickly, and we continued to struggle even getting shots off. Caleb Y. continued his effective play in the post, hitting on two of three, but no one else was able to make a shot. Glenwood finished the quarter getting several easy baskets off fast breaks. They finished with fifteen in the quarter and a 34-15 lead going into the final period. Our defense was a little sharper in the fourth, but our offense continued to struggle. We only got off three shots in the quarter and missed them all. Matt and Caleb Y. each split two free throws for our only two points. As I mentioned, the defense was better, getting back quicker in transition and playing pretty effective post defense. Because of the turnovers and the struggle to get rebounds, however, Glenwood took fourteen shots in the quarter, making four.

Caleb Y. led in scoring with nine. Matt and Henry each had three and Caleb D. got the other two. Henry, Mark and Caleb Y. each had five rebounds to lead the team. Henry also had two steals, as assist and a blocked shot.

Here are the stats for the year to date:

A Tale of Two Weeks

2011-11-23T11:16:00.001-08:00

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

That is just WAY too melodramatic. Also, not exactly accurate. Dickens was referring to the juxtaposition of sociological....oh wait, this is a SPORTS blog. Let's try this again.

The Patriots' opponents this past Monday and Tuesday were a step up (or two) in class from their opponents of the previous week. On Monday, we traveled to Portage for the christening of their gym, which from what I gathered, was long anticipated. Portage came in second in the conference tournament last year, losing a tough battle with Victory in the championship game. They have almost all of their top players back and have to be considered one of the favorites for the conference championship in 2012.

The first game of the evening was the junior high game. Our first thought when Portage's team came out for warmups was, where do they get players that big? But when the game started, Portage's size wasn't really the difference, though they did get the ball to the big guys over the top of our defense for some easy baskets, and there were several rebounds we had no chance of getting. The big difference was their point guard, a gifted ball-handler as well as a tough one-on-one defender. PCS started out the game in a somewhat passive defense, as it seemed they were assessing us to determine how best to play us. We had some open shots, especially Matt, and he knocked down a couple, a two and a three-pointer. Caleb worked hard down low and was able to get to the free throw line where he made two. From there, though, PCS cranked up the pressure at half court and caused a lot of turnovers. Between that and their rebounding, we could hardly get a shot off. Caleb scored three over the second and third quarter, but that was it for our offense. Portage scored 21 over that stretch, many on fast breaks off turnovers. To their credit, our guys continued to play hard. Caleb Y. was very aggressive, scoring four and Henry made a field goal. PCS didn't slow down on offense, however, and the final was 42-16.

After some ear-splitting music and deafening introductions, the varsity game got underway. The game began, and after a couple baskets and a 4-2 lead, our shooting stopped. HSRC seemingly could not get a shot to go down, even layups. Lucas and Nate scored a basket each, but that was it for the offense. The defense was good, but PCS did get five of twelve to go down, and they led at the end of one, 11-4. The second quarter was more of the same on offense. Time and time again, the Patriots got opportunities for layups and putbacks, but the they just wouldn't go down. The Patriots scored four again, this time on baskets from Lucas and Josh. The defense was better, allowing PCS to score only eight in the quarter on four of fourteen shooting, but it still left the Patriots down eleven at half.

Both teams picked it up on offense in the third. Josh and Nate saw some success working down low, and Nate even made a three. They got as close as six in the quarter, at 31-25, but Portage got the next two baskets, and after the teams traded baskets, PCS still led by ten going into the fourth. Both teams kept up their offenses in the quarter. HSRC started getting a little more aggressive with their defense and the fouls started piling up. Portage made fifteen trips to the line in the quarter, making only four, but Seth ended up fouling out. The guys also were more aggressive on offense, and they went to the line ten times, making five. PCS gradually increased their lead in the quarter, leading by as many as fifteen. Kyle made a late three to make the final score 55-43.

The Patriots ended up shooting 17% in the first half, but 56% in the second for 38% for the game. The team also only shot 36% from the free throw line (five for fourteen). Josh led the team in scoring with thirteen, while Kyle and Lucas added ten and Nate eight. Josh also led in rebounding with 14; Nate had eight. Lucas and Kyle had three assists apiece, and Lucas added three steals. Josh had two blocked shots on the night.

On Tuesday, we were part of another gym unveiling, playing Kankakee Trinity Academy at the their "new" gym - they just purchased a Lutheran school and were using the gym for a game for the first time. We had played KTA last year in the Calumet tournament, losing by twelve. For this game, we were going to be down one starter, as Lucas had previous engagement. The trapping halfcourt defense was very effective early. Our guys caused a lot of turnovers and deflections. On offense, the early-game shooting woes of the previous night's game haunted us again, as we only shot three for thirteen from the field (one for three from the arc) and two for six from the line in the opening quarter. Meanwhile, the defense concentrated on keeping the ball out of the hands of #21, KTA's star guard. Between that and the turnovers, KTA scored only ten in the quarter. The second quarter saw KTA capable forward, #14, getting free, so as the defense shifted toward containing him, #21 started getting some open looks. Our shooting difficulties continued. Josh was doing good work in the post, but our outside shots would not go down. The team shot 7 for 31 in the half, and trailed 28-17 at the break.

As it did the previous night, the offense started clicking in the third, while the defense took a step back. Seth started hitting some shots, scoring seven, while Josh kept up his steady work inside scoring four. Kyle also hit a couple of baskets and a free throw. However, #21 was very hot in the quarter. He scored seventeen of his team's 21, mostly on outside shots, several of which were defended pretty well. KTA kept adding to the lead in the fourth, but now behind the efforts of #14. He made all six of shots in the quarter, many of which were off nice moves around the basket. Also, #21 was setting him up with nice passes as the defense concentrated more on him. The Patriots began to get desparate on offense, taking a lot of shots and missing most. The guys were 6 of 22 in the quarter, two of which were threes. They got to the line seven times as well, making three. I believe the biggest lead was 23 for the Eagles, but a late basket by HSRC made the final 73-52.

For the game, the Patriots only shot 29.6% to KTA's 53%. Josh led the team in scoring with eighteen on eight for thirteen shooting from the floor. Seth added fifteen, Kyle ten and Nate seven. Peter got his first points of the year, scoring two. Kyle had rebounding honors with eleven. Josh had nine and Nate added seven. Seth had four assists and Josh had three blocks.

The team's next game is Thursday, December 1 at Christian Haven, so the guys have a little break. If anyone want to check on the stats for the team, I have been recording them on Maxpreps. Our schedule is there as well, but I'm not sure if it is completely up to date at this point. I will try to make sure all the schedules are synchronized this weekend. You also can see our standings within the conference here.

Have a blessed and restful Thanksgiving!

Who are you and what have you done with the Patriots?

2011-11-19T20:59:00.000-08:00

58-37. 66-31.

We have seen scores like this before. Generic Christian School or X Homeschool Dynasty would score the greater amount. HSRC would score the lesser.

This year, however, HSRC is on the left side. HSRC gets to attach a W to the score.

Whoever these guys are, at least they don't know history. At least they aren't affected by it.

Already this year the team single-game scoring record has been broken. Twice. The team record for field goals in a game has been broken. Twice. The team record for shooting percentage from the floor has been broken. Twice. The team records for assists and blocked shots have been broken. Only once for those.

Apparently 2011-2012 is a different year.

HSRC's opener was Thursday against Grace Baptist of Kankakee. We hosted the game at Crete Elementary, and it was obvious that it was our first home game. From having no concessions to a non-functioning scoreboard projector, the night did not go smoothly, at least logistically. The game, however, was a revelation. Last year we barely beat Grace in their gym, winning 37-35, one of the four games the guys won last year. The Patriots started out a little slowly, especially on defense, as they weren't sure where Grace's strengths were. Seth, however, did not start slowly on offense. He was five for five in the first quarter, most on drives to the basket, although he also hit a three. Josh was also perfect from the field, hitting both of his attempts. On the strength of their efforts, HSRC pushed the lead out to six at the end of the first quarter, 17-11. The defense tightened in the second, while the offense cooled a bit. The Patriots were settling for three attempts, but only one was successful out of the six taken. When the guys did get it inside, good things happened, as they hit four of six two point attempts. Seth cooled off a bit, but still scored seven in the quarter and had eighteen at the half. On the other half of the court, the defense was stifling. Grace only was able to connect on three of thirteen attempts. Several of the misses were due to blocks, thanks to Nate and Josh. Occasionally the defense was a little overexuberant, resulting in six trips to the line for the Chargers. Thankfully only one was successful, so the Patriots were able to increase the lead to ten, 28-18, at the half.

The second half saw Kyle pick things up on the offensive end. He scored on all three of his attempts i the quarter, including a three. While Seth slowed a bit on the offense end, his defense continued to be strong. He scored four in the quarter and Lucas and Nate added a basket each. Grace scored three more from the line in the quarter, but their shooting percentage remained low. At one point HSRC led by seventeen, but a late three by Grace made it 43-29 at the end of three. Seth got hot again in the fourth, hitting all three that he took in the quarter. The other four starters - Josh, Kyle, Nate and Lucas each added a basket and Nated added a free throw. The defense repeated their performance of the second quarter. Grace again shot three for thirteen while making two foul shots. The lead grew throughout the quarter. The final was 58-37.

Seth broke the team record for field goals made (13) and points in a game (28), breaking the records held by Justin VanderPloeg (10 and 23), set in the 2009-2010 season. Team record for points, field goals made, and blocked shots were broken as well. The 58 exceeded the previous high of 47 set in the 2009-2010 season. The new high in field goals, 27, exceeded the previous high of 23, set in that same game in 09-10. The old blocked shots record of seven was also set that season, but was exceeded by one in this game. As I'm sure you guessed, Seth was the leading scorer with 28, followed by Kyle with 13 and Josh with eight. Josh led in rebounds with seven, while Lucas offset a rough shooting night with five assists. Nate's five and Josh's three made up the record blocked shots effort.

The momentum seemed to carry over to the next night, when we took on Community Christian. Community rose from the ashes of Ridgewood Baptist, which had been a basketball powerhouse, both boys and girls, for many years.

But first the junior high team debuted. Our team is pretty young, with several sixth graders on the team. CCS jumped out to an early lead, but Caleb D. got us on the board. CCS slowed down after the quick start, but still led after one, 8-4. The boys stayed with the Panthers early in the second, but they soon unveiled a 1-2-1-1 press that we were unprepared for. Time after time the Panthers forced turnovers which led to easy baskets. CCS scored the last eight points of the half. HSRC was only able to score one on a free throw from Caleb Y. Halftime score: 18-5. The Patriots were able to slow the Panthers a little in the third. The half court defense was solid, but every time the Panthers applied the press, we had trouble. Caleb Y. was able to get free a couple times in the quarter for layups, but he also traveled a couple times on questionable calls that might have turned into layups as well. Caleb Y. kept things going in the fourth. He scored on three of four shooting. The half court defense continued to be solid. CCS had called off the press, so HSRC was able to show their half court strengths. HSRC "won" the quarter, outscoring CCS 6-4, to make the final 31-15. Not a great start, but the effort was there.

As mentioned, the former incarnation of Community had a reputation for strong teams. Also, as mentioned, HSRC was coming in with a lot of momentum. One of those two things held true this Friday evening, and CCS looks like their going to have to build their own legacy. It took a little while to get it going, however. A couple of starters were late, so Peter and Ethan got their first starts, They, with Josh, Kyle and Lucas made up the lineup for the first quarter. That group played quite well. Even though the score was close, it was noticeable that we had the better team. Lucas got off quickly, driving to the basket. He scored six in the first to match Kyle for scoring honors in the quarter. The star player for CCS kept them close with three threes plus a two, but his teammates scored only one other point. Josh also scored in the quarter, and HSRC led 14-12. The regular starters were in to start the second, but it was Lucas who kept things going. He shot four of five in the quarter, including a three. But was really notable about the quarter was the defense. The Patriots forced turnovers or bad shots time after time in the quarter, leading to fast breaks. And on the fast breaks, the passing and finishing was breathtaking. Speed down the court, touch passes, no-look passes, and beautiful finishes led to a lot of easy baskets. CCS continued to get almost all their offense from #12, but less so as they guys started figuring out how better to play him. HSRC scored 23 in the quarter while giving up only nine, and the halftime score was 37-21.

The Patriots didn't miss a beat starting the second have. The same defense, the same results. This time Kyle was the benenficiary on the scoring side. Seth kept piling up the assists, and Kyle, Nate and Lucas also chipped in. The defense was even better, or CCS started panicking. Either way, CCS shot only two for thirteen. HSRC scored 21 to CCS's five and the lead was 58-26. Fifty-eight. The amount scored the last night in the whole game which was the high water mark all-time for the program, and a full quarter to play. If Coach Boss had elected to, the record would have obliterated. As it was, he played his bench players all quarter and ordered his charges to pass, pass, pass. However, he did not tell them to back off on defense, and the result there was another five-point quarter. The slow-down strategy plus a mini cold streak kept the Patriot scoring down to eight, but the scoring (and field goal) record was broken again in the 66-31 victory.

The scoring was more balance in this game than the Grace game. Lucas led in scoring with 17 on seven for 11 shooting. Josh had 16, Kyle had 14, Seth had 11 and Nate had eight. Josh owned the boards with 13 rebounds. Nate and Kyle had nine each. The notable stat of the night, though, was assists. The team and player single-game records were both broken. Seth had a record eight of the team record 17 assists for the game. Kyle led the team with four steals. As mentioned, the scoring and field goal team records were broken for the second consecutive night. The shooting percentage record was also broken this night, as the Patriots shot over 50% for the first time in its history, shooting 51.7%.

What a difference a year makes. See you all at Portage Christian on Monday. Go Patriots!

Season wrap up

2011-10-15T12:41:00.000-07:00

The second season of the HSRC junior high soccer team in now complete, with the post-season banquet taking place on Thursday. This season was far more successful in terms of wins and losses than the first year, as the Patriots finished up with six wins and six losses, after finishing last year without a win.

At the last post, the Patriots were 2-3. Those two wins were consecutive and were the first two of what turned out to be a five-game winning streak. The third win in the streak was 5-1 victory over Cornerstone of Chicago Heights. This was a good measuring stick of how far the team had come from last year, as the team lost to Cornerstone last year 1-0. The next game was against Zion Lutheran of Beecher, a late add to the schedule. The game was at Zion's home field. The details are a bit murky, but I think the score was about 6-0. The last game in the winning streak was against St. Paul of Oak Lawn. This game was our second and last home game. The game was a lot of fun, and I believe the final score of that one was 8-2, with Noel scoring six of the goals.

Alas, the fun came to an end against Southside Baptist on October 7. Last year we only lost by one, but they got a lot bigger and we got beat 4-1. The conference tournament was up next. Four of the organizations in the conference had middle school teams - HSRC, Portage, Granger and Victory. We had Granger up first. Granger dominated the game, going out to a big early lead before going on to the 7-3(?) victory. In the consolation game, the boys took on Portage. They moved out to a two-goal lead and held on despite a last-minute goal by Portage, 5-4. The final game of the season was against Trinity Lutheran of Tinley Park. This game was also a vast improvement over last year, but still was a loss. Last year it was 8-0; this year, in a well-played game the team only lost 2-0. The loss kept the team from finishing over .500, but 6-6 is not bad. And we got a trophy.

The banquet was fun with a lot of good food. Coach Goudzwaard gave out the awards: MVP was Noel, of course. The energy(?) award was given to Sam and the newcomer award was given to Dillon. Coach noted that we outscored our opponents on the year and that Noel scored thirty-one of the forty-seven (?) that the team scored. All-in-all, a good season with a lot of improvement. Looking forward to next year.

First full-squad win!!

2011-09-20T12:16:00.001-07:00

This afternoon the Patriots traveled to Glenwood School for their fifth game of the season. Two games ago our guys came very close to winning, losing by one after trailing 3-0 at halftime. That game we were without Bobby for the first half; today we were without him the whole game. Despite that, the boys took away their first win with a whole squad in the history of the program, winning 2-0.

It was an interesting game. The majority of the play was on our side of the field. Glenwood was faster as a team than the Patriots, and were a bit more aggressive. Shot after shot was taken by Glenwood and most of them were on goal. Thankfully we have a very good goalie. I wish I would have counted the number of saves Blake had in the game. I'm sure it was at least fifteen. Of those, three were shots penalty shots. Not one shot got past Blake; he was a wall. It did help that all of the shots on goal were low. Every high shot they took went over the net. But if their was such a thing, and I had a vote, I would vote for Blake for player of the game. Noel scored toward the end of the first half and then early in the second. I don't think there were more than two other shots by the Patriots the entire game. We didn't get a lot of opportunities, but we made them count.

Other players who shone tonight were Peter and Caleb for their excellent clearing kicks on defense; Mark and Sam for their energy; and of course Noel for scoring both goals and helping out on defense later in the game.

Our next game is at Cornerstone of Chicago Heights on Thursday. Check the calendar at fofchomeschool.org for the time and location. See you there.

Season summary to date

2011-09-17T10:12:00.000-07:00

I have been remiss in blogging here and I apologize. I have only been able to attend two games of the four so I can't give first-hand accounts of the Illinois Lutheran and Landmark games.

I have recapped the opening game against Victory, so I won't go over that game again. Our next game was against Illinois Lutheran. We had played their B team three times last year and lost two of them by only one goal. (The third was a 5-2 IL victory). We were hoping, because of the team's improvement, that we might be able to beat them this year. However, our signals got crossed somewhere, and IL played their A team. We have ways to go before we get to that level. As I mentioned, I wasn't there, and the people I talked to had a hard time keeping track of all the goals scored by the opponent. So the final was around 8 to 10 for IL and 3 for us. If anyone is sure of the final, please make a comment and I will edit this post As in our first game, all of our goals were scored by Noah.

Our next game was against Glenwood School and was our first home game on our Monee field. The field was in good shape and it was great to host a game. One of our players misplaced his cleats so he was unavailable to play in the first half. We were already down to thirteen players, so that left us with only one sub. The team played well considering the circumstances, but Glenwood's speed was too much for us to handle and they led 3-0 at half. The shoeless Patriot showed up at half time with the proper equipment and that made a bid difference. We controlled the ball much of the second half, but could only net two while holding Glenwood scoreless. Noel continue to be our offense, scoring both.

I was unable to attend the most recent game, against Landmark at their field. They only had eight, so they requested that we play with the same number. They also preferred not to play against girls, so Anya and Rebecca had to sit out. None of this slowed down our team, as the Patriots recorded the first soccer victory in the program's existence, 8-1. This time Noel shared the wealth, as several players scored. Per Coach Goudzwaard, he believed the scoring came from Henry (3), Noel (2), and Sam, Isaac and Blake with one each. Again, if anyone is sure of the scoring, please leave a note.

This week's games are both away games: Monday at Glenwood at 4:30 and Thursday at Cornerstone in Chicago Heights at 4:30. More details are on the calendar that you can find here: http://fofchomeschool.org/calendar.html#year=2011&month=9&day=17&view=month. Keep checking the calendar, as we may be adding a couple more games.

The season is underway

2011-09-02T19:38:00.000-07:00

HSRC began its second junior high soccer season tonight with a game at Victory Christian Academy in Valparaiso, IN. While the team didn't come out with a win, there were a lot of positives the team can build on. Because the, ahem, athletic director, whoever that is, forgot that he scheduled a game with Victory, we kind of had to scramble to get the team together to even play this game. And it was quite fortunate that the OTHER game we scheduled that day got canceled. Oops. We will do better.

Anyway, back to the game. I didn't get there until just before the first half ended (thank you holiday traffic), and the Patriots were trailing 4-1. That is how the first half ended. The team tried to cool off in some shade at the end of the field at halftime. It must have helped. Behind three goals from Noel Keeble (who also scored the first half goal) the Patriots tied up the game and the momentum was on our side. But alas, it didn't last as Victory scored the last two goals of the game to take the win, 6-4.

So the program continues to look for its first win. With just a little more experience, it looks like that wait might be over soon. Noel stood out (obviously) on offense, Bobby looked very good with ball control from his midfield position, and Peter did very well on defense. As some of the younger players get playing time the defense should get better and that win should come.

Next game is at Illinois Lutheran in Crete (Route 1 about one mile south of Exchange) Tuesday at 4:15. On Thursday we host our first game in history, against Glenwood School for Boys and Girls, also at 4:15. Hope to see you there.

Summer activity

2011-07-05T18:20:00.000-07:00

HSRC Sports is putting soccer and basketball clinics this summer. The soccer clinic will take place on July 16 at Crete Reformed Church, 24755 South Country Lane, Crete, IL 60417 (just west of IL394 on Exchange, across the street from Walt's).

From the coaches:

How would you like to meet professional or World Cup soccer players and be able to learn the game and kick the ball around with them for a few hours? Well, I would too, but we don’t know any of them. Instead, the Home School Resource Center will be hosting a summer soccer clinic on July 16, 2011, from 9:00am to 12:30 pm. The clinic will be conducted by HSRC Junior High soccer coaches Steve Goudzwaard and Jay Dorn.

Boys and girls who are 10 to 13 years old (5^th – 8^th grade) are invited to participate. The purpose of the clinic is to introduce basic soccer skills of kicking, passing, trapping and dribbling. Proper techniques will be emphasized. We will conclude with a short scrimmage game.

Participants should wear shorts and a T-shirts as well as proper footwear and shin guards. Water and snacks will be provided, but participants may still want to bring a water bottle and snack of their own.

The cost of the clinic is $ 15 payable to Home School Resource Center (HSRC). Each participant will receive an HSRC Patriots t-shirt.

We are preparing a home soccer field at Family of Faith Church in Monee, IL., where we will have practices and home games for this coming season.

In addition, HSRC will be hosting a basketball clinic for boys 6th to 9th grade at the South Suburban Sports Complex, 1329 Commerce Drive, Crete, IL.

708-367-8075

www.sssportscomplex.com

This will be headed up by Brian Power, junior high coach of the HSRC Patriots. The clinic will run from 3PM to 5PM each day from July 25 to July 29. It is open to 6th to 9th grade boys (11 to 14 on September 1, 2011). Cost of this camp is $45 per player and includes an HSRC Patriots t-shirt.

Final post

2011-03-08T20:34:00.000-08:00

Yes, I'm finally getting around to the recap of the Portage and all-star games. I'm building anticipation.

Anyway, a week ago Monday we went to the Courts of Northwest Indiana, Portage's home court, for our final girls' and boys' varsity games of the year. However, when we scheduled this game last fall, we did not tell Portage that we wanted to play their boys' varsity this year. They assumed we wanted the same game as last year, a JV game, so that is what they scheduled.

The first game on the schedule was the girls' game. Last year HSRC won by I believe five or so, in a very tense game, both on the court and on the bench. Those of you who were there will know what I'm talking about. We had seen Portage at the Grace tournament. They seemed to have different players from one game to the next, so we weren't sure who we would be facing. We soon found out that PCS only had six girls there, but both of their quick little guards and one of their very tall forwards were included in that six. Coach Boss, however, designed a game plan to draw out the big girl from underneath by bringing Rachel up to the elboy, and that with some very good perimeter defense kept us in the game for a while. After one quarter, PCS's lead was only two. The girls continued to hang tough in the early part of the second, keeping the lead to four until near the end of the quarter. PCS scored to go up 16-10, and then got the ball back with a few seconds to go and managed get another basket at the halftime horn, so the lead was eight heading into the second half. Rachel had gotten into foul trouble so she had to go to the bench, and she took most of our interior defense with her. PCS kept working the ball inside and there was very little we could do. Cass kept up the offense, but we game up nearly as many points in the third as we did in the first two quarter. PCS outscored our girls 17-9 in the quarter. The fourth was even worse. Our offense and defense abandoned us, but the girls never gave up. Portage ended up with a 54-24 victory. Rachel (12) and Cass (10) scored all but two of our points (which were scored by Carolyn on a nice little drive to the basket). Rebounds were hard to come by - Rachel led the team with five. Rachel also had two steals and an assist. Corinne contributed the only block of the game.

As mentioned earlier, the boys played PCS's JV team. Last year we played their JV team with a couple of varsity players and lost 38-19. This year it was exclusively their JV team, and the result was quite different. The guys started the game hot from the outside. Sam and Dan each hit a three and a two, and Justin pitched in with a basket underneath. On the other side of the court, the pressure defense was effective against Portage, holding them to six. Our offense cooled in the second, as the shots would not go down. Michael got a two-pointer and Dan hit another three, but that was it. The defense however, made up for it. If they weren't forcing turnovers, they were making the Pacers take bad shots. Portage got no points in the quarter, so it was 17-6 HSRC at the half. The third quarter was quite different than the second. The Patriots outscored PCS again, but it was 14-13 in this quarter. Our outside shooting picked up again while Luke L and Justin each scored down low. Portage found their shooting touch as well, hitting three threes and two twos. HSRC maintained the offense in the fourth, as well as the balance. Six players contributed to the thirteen scored in the quarter. The defense was intense, only allowing five shots, one going in (a three). Final score - 44-23, HSRC Patriots. A nice game to finish the season. Dan led in scoring with thirteen and Sam had twelve. Both guys shot 50% or better from the field. Nate, Luke L and Justin each had four rebounds and Justin also had four steals.

The all-star games the next night were fun. The girls started and the difference in ability of the MCAC players compared to the rest of the teams was quite apparent. Mainly due to their play, the East girls won, I believe by about seventeen. Rachel had a nice game with seven points, ten rebounds and three steals. Cass also played well. At halftime, the boys' three-point contest was held. Lucas did well, finishing tied for fourth. In between games, a shooting contest was held with two boys and one girl from each program. Calumet set the standard early, and no team could match it. The boys game was the opposite of the girls' game: the West jumped to a big early lead. The East made a run in the second half, but only got as close as eight, I believe. Justin and Sam both played well, scoring six and twelve, respectively. The girls's three-point contest, held at halftime of the boys' game was exciting. Cass hit seven and held the lead for a short time, but the MCAC girl, in the last group to shoot, made nine so Cass finished second. All in all, a very fun night.

Last night was the season-ending banquet. After a delicious potluck, awards and certificates of participation were presented. The Lorenzes continued their tradition of putting together season-summarizing photo montages, and everyone enjoyed the food and fellowhip. See you next year!

Final basketball post of the 2010-2011 season

2011-03-03T18:42:00.000-08:00

Well, that's it. The 2010-2011 basketball season for the HSRC Patriots is in the books. I don't think I'll take this opportunity to recap the year; I may do that in a later post. Let me just summarize the state tournament games for our junior high and varsity boys, the final regular season games against Portage, and the conference all-star festivities.

First, the state tournament. The junior high tournament took place on Friday, February 25 - it did for us, anyway. The championship game was played on Saturday. We didn't quite make it to that, so both our games were on Friday. The first one was against HRK-Gurnee, who we had played earlier in the year. We lost that game 33-12, but we were without the Powers boys (and dad) in that game. HRK put up a lot more shots than us in the first, making three of seventeen, while we went one for seven. The shots were more even in the second, but HRK kept shooting a better percentage. #32, who went oh-for-six in the first, stopped shooting, and the rest of the team went five-for-eleven. Adam was bottled up inside so he couldn't get off too many shots, making only two free throws. Trevor added a basket and it was 17-6 HRK at half. Things slowed down considerably in the fourth. We packed in the defense and they slowed the pace. We managed four again with Adam and Trevor each making a basket, while completely shutting down the Eagles. HRK scored one early in the fourth to make it 18-10. Henry made a three, but HRK went into a stall and we couldn't get the ball back, so 18-13 was the final. Adam had six points, eight rebounds and two blocks. Trevor led the team with nine rebounds.

Game two was also a rematch. The opponent was Crossroads' 12U team, essentially players seventh grade and younger. That one was played without Devon, who missed the game with a sprained ankle. The first contest was a blowout, with Crossroads winning 51-13. This game was much more tightly contested. We trailed 12-1 at the end of one in that game; in this one we were only down 12-8. Adam did all the scoring with three baskets and two free throws. He also was piling up the rebounds. Crossroads opened up the lead to ten by half. Adam got four more in the quarter and Trevor added a freethrow, but Crossroads scored eleven. Adam already had sixteen rebounds at this point. We played evenly with Crossroads in third. Trevor scored a basket, Devon had a bucket and a freethrow, and Adam scored three. Crossroads played tough defense in the fourth, and we had to start fouling to get the ball back. The Crusaders got nine in the quarter, seven from the free throw line. We only managed four, so the final was 41-25. Not very close, but a lot better than 51-13. Adam had a monster game. He scored fifteen, but the big number was 30, as in 30 rebounds, a record that will likely not be broken for a long time. Peter H. added eleven rebounds as a part of the biggest rebounding game (50) the junior high had all year. Peter also had two rebounds and two steals. Trevor also had two steals. The junior high ended up with a 5-10 record.

The varsity had their first game at 8:45 Saturday morning, also against a team they had already faced, HRK Gurnee. It was not a very good game for us. We were down by 24 at the half and lost 55-22. We played a much better first half in this one. We only trailed by two at the end of the first. Sam, Stan, Justin and Lucas all contributed to the eleven the Patriots scored in the quarter. The second was also a good quarter. Gurnee pushed the lead up to ten at one point, but the guys got it back to a five point deficit by halftime. The scoring continued to be balanced, with Mike, Sam, Stan, Justin and Lucas all scoring in the quarter. That was pretty much the end of our good play for the day, however. HSRC couldn't stop #24 in the third, while we had trouble getting shots off, then had trouble making them. Our balance also went away, as Justin got all our points. HRK increased the lead to sixteen by the end of the quarter. We played them pretty even in the fourth, but couldn't get any offense going to make a run. We only made two for eleven, the last one being a three by Ben that went in to make the final score 55-38. Justin led in scoring with thirteen, with Sam, Stan and Lucas contributing six each. Justin also had six rebounds and three steals. Sam had two assists and Luke L had two blocks.

Our final opponent for the tournament was Crestwood Cavalry, the team Coach played for. We knew they were tough, and it turned out they were too tough for us. They played probably the toughest defense we faced all year and came out on top 58-22. They opened up a 19-5 lead after a quarter, with their points coming mostly inside even though our guys were playing a tight zone. We couldn't get any shots off, nor did we rebound well. The Patriots played better in the second, only getting outscored by two. Mike, Sam, Justin and Nate all scored. The third quarter was a disaster, expecially offensively. The guys only got seven shots off and none went in. Their coach's son continued to score, getting eight in the quarter, and his teammates added five more. 43-14, Crestwood, at the end of three. Crestwood continued their steady scoring in the fourth, while HSRC scored a threes by Luke D and Dan, and a basket by Justin. We shot 8 for 32 in the game. Crestwood had 21 more shots than the Patriots as they outrebounded us by nine and had eighteen fewer turnovers. Justin had six points and Dan had five. Justin had six rebounds to lead the team, Stan had two assists, Sam had three steals, and Nate had two blocks.

I will summarize the Portage game and the all-star festivities in my next post.

Unpleasant guests

2011-02-19T12:20:00.000-08:00

I think that is an appropriate description of us, after we partially ruined another senior night and partially ruined a homecoming. For the record, that's two partially ruined senior night and one partially ruined homecoming on the year.

On Friday, we played the boys' game against Luther East that was originally scheduled in December. Luther East had some eligibility issues then so they were unable to field a complete team at that time. Since our boys were going to play anyway, we added another girls game as well. This was the first contest of the evening. We had lost to Luther East twice early in the season, but both losses were without Rachel. Tonight we had Rachel, but of course, no Holly. The tone of the game was set early. That tone was a rugby tone. Describing LE's play as physical would be a big understatement. Brutal might be a better term. The refs were allowing it, so it continued throughout the game. At one point, a LE girl through a shoulder into Rachel after the whistle. Rachel reacted angrily, and received the technical. That typified the action throughout the game. Because Rachel was the focal point of he offense to start out the game and LE's game plan was to triple and quadruple team her every time she got the ball, HSRC didn't get anything going in the first. The defense was strong, and limited LE to only four. Things opened up in the second, but the gap also opened up. Hannah made a three and Carolyn put one in, but that was all we got. LE put up nine in the quarter and it was an eight-point lead half time. The threes started falling for LE in the third. Cassidy scored seven in the quarter for the Patriots and Corinne added two, but LE seemed to get every rebound from their misses and got a ton of points on put-backs. They ended up with sixteen to push the lead up to fifteen. Corinne found the range in the fourth and fouls were finally being called on Rachel's defenders. Corinne made three baskets, Rachel made eight of ten free throws, and Cass added a field goal. LE was limited to eight, but that wasn't enough as the girls went down to defeat, 37-30. Cass had nine points with Rachel and Corinne adding eight each. Corinne had nine rebounds and Rachel had eight. Cass had three assists; Rachell had three steals. Cass and Rachel also each had two blocks each.

After the senior night festivities, the boys' game got underway. We trailed 4-2 after a couple of minutes, but then got going. It was even at six before we got the last four in the quarter to take a four-point lead. The momentum continued into the second half, with the Patriots scoring the first four in the quarter on two free throws by Stan and a bucket by Justin. The wheels seemed to fall off here. LE scored eight straight points before Sam made a shot for us. LE scored the final basket in the half to tie it up. HSRC reestablished their dominance early in the second half. Lucas and Justin were scoring early, with Justin making an old-fashioned three point play and Lucas burying a three-pointer. Lucas' basket made it a twelve-point game. LE outscored the Patriots 6-2 to finish the quarter to cut the lead to eight. After LE scored to open the quarter, Lucas and Stan made baskets to push the lead back to ten, but then LE went on another run. They scored nine straight points to get to within one. Finally Sam got fouled and made both of his free throws. The Patriots were able to smother LE for the rest of the game and came away with a 37-34 victory. Justin led in scoring with ten, while Lucas added nine and Stan eight. Justin and Luke L were the double digit rebounders with 14 and 11, respectively. Stan had seven steals; Justin and Sam had five each. Luke L got our only block in the game. Lucas had two assists to lead the team.

The party-ruining continued on Friday. Calumet invited us to play their JV team because their scheduled opponent's JV team had disbanded. We had several players with plans for the weekend, so with Calumet's permission, we cobbled together a team of some varsity and some JV players. The starting lineup was Ben, Stan, Luke D, Justin and Lucas. Dan, Sam and Peter H were on the bench. Calumet's JV team was a little different too, as their star player was ineligible for the game. The game started out slowly as each team tried to get a feel for the other. Ben broke the ice with a nice three. Luke D and Justin followed that with buckets. Calumet could only get one basket to go down, as they had difficulty with our pressure and changing defenses. The second quarter scoring was nearly the same as the first. Our scoring came from Luke, Justin, Lucas and Dan, who matched his brother's first quarter three. Calumet was limited to three in the quarter, so HSRC led by eleven at half. The intensity seemed to be even higher in the third. CCS had difficulty in getting off shots, much less making them. Luke D and Dan led the Patriots with five and four respectively in the quarter, with Sam adding a two and Justin a free throw. The lead was 28-7 at the end of three. The Patriots relaxed their full-court pressure in the fourth, and their shooting percentage dropped somewhat, but they still were the better team in the fourth. Sam got a couple of baskets and Justin added one. The goal of keeping CCS in single digits wasn't met, as their new big guy, #40, got a couple of baskets, but the victory was still impressive, with a final of 34-11. Luke D was the leading scorer with nine. Justin and Dan added seven each and Sam scored six. Lucas had six rebounds, Justin had three assists and Luke D had four steals to lead the team in each category.

The season is winding down. The junior high and varsity teams will have at least two game at the state tournament, the junior high games primarily on Friday and varsity on Saturday. Then the following Monday we wrap up our schedule with boys and girls varsity games against Portage. Our all-stars will have one more game the next Tuesday in the conference all-star game at Victory, then that will be it. We will be wrapping up the season with the banquet on March 7 at Family of Faith Church in Monee.

Second and last home game

2011-02-16T18:42:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, the Patriot welcomed the Cougars(?) of First Baptist Christian of Mishawaka to our home court at Hidden Cove in Bourbonnais. FBCM doesn't have a girls' team this year, so there were only two contests, junior high and varsity boys.

Just looking at the FBCM junior high team, we knew that we would have our hands full. They didn't have many players, but most were big, and big teams were the ones that gave us the most trouble. It wasn't very far into the game that we found that they were going to use their height as much as possible. Their interior passing was very effective, and their one outside shooter made one of two three-pointers in the first quarter. Adam was effective on our offensive end, making both of his first-quarter shots, but the guys had difficulty getting it in to him. Devon also scored, but FBCM led 11-6 at the end of one. The visitors kept up their inside work in the second, and started to collapse on Adam defensively. Adam found Peter E free for one basket, and Devon added one, but all Adam could get was a free throw. FBCM scored thirteen in the quarter and led by thirteen at half. Coach Powers fired up the guys at half, and they came out hustling. Adam and Peter E were working it back and forth in the post, and they scored ten between them. Devon got a couple, Peter H put one in and so did Trevor, and the Patriots had their highest point total for a quarter this year, eighteen. Meanwhile FBCM continued on the their steady offensive pace, netting ten, eight by their #20. But HSRC's offensive onslaught had brought them to within five. But Adam had gotten into foul trouble, and shortly into the fourth he fouled out. Without him in there, we had great trouble stopping First Baptist, and didn't have much inside offense. FBCM ended up outscoring our guys 16-4 in the fourth, and came away with the victory, 50-33. Adam led in scoring with thirteen, Devon had eight, Peter E six, Trevor four and Peter H 2. Adam had "only" twelve rebounds to go with three assists and two steals. Peter E had four assists, mostly feeding Adam in the post.

We had asked Victory's coach about FBCM's varsity team who had beaten Victory by two the last time they faced each other, so we had some sense of what they were like. What they are like is that they have one very, very good player, #14. He got six of their ten first quarter points, mostly on drives. Sam hit a three to get us going, and Justin added three of his own on a free throw and a bucket, and Sam pitched in with a free throw. Then to begin the second, FBCM scored and Stan matched that with a basket of his own. FBCM got free inside on drives and scored five straight to move out to an eight-point lead. Lucas began to find his range at this point, knocking down a three. The two teams traded baskets, then Lucas found the range again, and it was a two point game. The Patriots got the ball back again and scored once again, and it was tied 19-19 at halftime. We opened the second half scoring, but it was nip and tuck all quarter. No team had greater than a three point lead all quarter until First Baptist made their first three of the game to close out the quarter's scoring, which gave them a four-point lead entering the final period. Stan and Justin got us back even early in the quarter. They scored a three to break the tie, but a basket by Justin got us to within one, then Stan put one in to put us up by one. That was it for us. #14 scored on a basket and then later made a free-throw to put the visitors up by two. We had a chance with the ball and 1.2 seconds remaining, but we had to go the length of the court and the long pass went awry, and FB came away with the victory 37-35. Justin led in scoring with thirteen and added twelve rebounds. Stan had eleven points and six rebounds. Luke L added eleven rebounds while Sam pitched in five steals and three assists. Nate got both blocks HSRC had in the game.

Tomorrow is the varsity teams against Luther East at St. John's Lutheran in Lansing, then Friday the JV team will play Calumet's JV team at their homecoming. See you there.

Weekend recap

2011-02-14T20:23:00.000-08:00

HSRC had another busy weekend of basketball, with three games against Victory on Friday and two against First Baptist of Mishawaka at "home" on Saturday. Not as successful as we would have liked, getting only one win, but all of the losses were competitive.

On Friday, the junior high boys, varsity boys and girls traveled to Valparaiso to play the Lions once again. The varsity boys had already played VCA twice and the junior high and girls team had played them once. All of the previous contests were losses, but that streak soon ended. The junior high boys were first up, and dealt the Lions the loss, 23-16. Adam was the story in this game. He scored sixteen on seven-for-fourteen shooting and added nineteen rebounds. This was the third game in the last four that he had pulled down nineteen or more rebounds. VCA didn't really have anyone to match up with him inside; their strength was their ball-handling. Which made it strange that VCA wouldn't allow us to press. We had run into a "no-press" rule in some elementary games, but even in those the teams were allowed to press the last two minutes of the half and game. House rules, I guess.

The game was an 8-4 affair after one, in favor of the Patriots. VCA began finding the range from three-point distance, hitting two in the second. We could only muster three points in the quarter, so the lead was only one at half. However, the Lions' touch abandoned them in the third. Adam was clogging up the middle on defense, and was getting free on offense. HSRC shut out VCA in the third while scoring six, moving the lead out to seven. The Patriots maintained that lead in the fourth and came away with their fifth win of the season. Besides Adam's big numbers, Trevor added five points, two assists and two steals. Mark contributed three steals.

The girls had played VCA in their first game of the year, losing 25-8 while playing with four most of the game. That was the game Rachel injured her ankle early in the game and Melody's family had a car accident on the way to the game. It was rather a shock for us to see their team come out for this game. They had added a new player since we played them last time - a very tall girl. A very tall girl that did a very good job neutralizing Rachel. She wasn't terribly skilled offensively, but was tall. Did I mention she was tall? Anyway, she prevented Rachel for getting many rebounds, and played solid defense on her. Thankfully, Cass found her outside stroke, making two of four from distance and four of ten overall. The Patriots actually led by four at the half, but Rachel was in foul trouble. She picked up her fourth early in the second half and Coach had to sit her down. VCA outscored our girls 4-0 in the quarter and never trailed after that. Rachel fouled out early in the fourth and that was about it. VCA pulled away to a 25-18 win.

The varsity guys had lost the first two games against Victory by 33 and 28. The second game was far better, with VCA pulling away slowly unlike the first game where they jumped out to a huge early lead and then played their bench. This game followed that progression. The first quarter was similar to the first two games, with the Lions owning it. This time they led by eleven, which was progress, as VCA had 21 and 13 point leads the first two games. An aggressive full court defense enabled the Patriots to stay even with VCA in quarter two, but they couldn't eat into the lead. Sam's driving was the story in the third. He got free for some easy ones in the quarter and also got to the free throw line, where he made both attempts in that quarter. Justin got on the board with five points after getting shut out in the first, and the Patriots trimmed the lead to ten by the end of the third. They got as close as nine in the fourth, but VCA pulled away, scoring seven from the free throw line as the Patriots tried to get the ball back by fouling. The final was 53-38, quite an improvement from the first two games. The Victory coach had some nice things to say about our defense and the play of Sam in the game. Sam ended up with eighteen points and eight rebounds. Justin ended up with six and led the team in rebounds with nine. Stan topped the team with three steals.

Recap of the Saturday First Baptist of Mishawaka games will follow tomorrow, as well as some statistics.

All-tournament selections

2011-02-07T11:06:00.000-08:00

The all-tournament selections for the recently completed inaugural SSC Conference tournament, and both Rachel and Justin were named to the team. They will receive their awards at the home game on Saturday. Congrats to them both!

One and out for both teams in the conference tournament

2011-02-06T18:30:00.000-08:00

The guys and girls put up good fights in their first round games in the first ever South Shore Christian Conference but each came up short.

From our guest blogger, Carolyn Horne:

For the girls game we only had 5 girls as Corinne was a sickly child and couldn't play. Granger (as in Herminone) came out in a full court press to begin the game, and caused some trouble for us Patriots, but soon we were able to regain our footing and break the heinous press. The Patriots started out in a 2-3 defense, which was able to contain the opposing team, but they were still able to score 22 points to our 16 that half. Even though the girls were down 8 shortly before halftime, Carolyn and Rachel had an amazing play to end the half. Carolyn pressured a girl on Granger, who had gotten the defensive rebound, and she was able to strip the ball away. Rachel, who had remained under the basket quickly yelled for the ball, received the pass, and was able to score to end the half making sure that the team had energy going into the 2nd half, and putting the Patriots down by 6.

Despite the energy the team had going into the 3rd quarter, it quickly dissappeared. Granger full court pressed the entire 3rd quarter, and half court pressed in the 4th. A couple of steals of later it seemed that the game was out of reach for the Patriots, but they fought and were able to put in a few buckets thanks to Cass and Rachel. All of our girls played really hard and made sure to contain Granger, and thanks to some very good refs (probably the best refs we have ever had) the game was able to be a little phyiscal, without getting out of hand.

The game ended with a 51-26 loss, but the girls played hard all the way through the game. Rachel lead the team with 20 points, while Cass had 5 points, and Carolyn with 10 rebounds.
[EDIT: Rachel ended up with 21 points and sixteen rebounds. Cass got the other four points.]

The guys game was against Portage, the third seed. We had not faced them, but some of us had seen them play at the Calumet tournament. They were at about the same level as Calumet, and as we had some success in our last game with them, we thought we might have a chance. But when we found out that half the team was lost (and wouldn't show up until the end of the first quarter), we knew that the battle was an even more uphill affair. The opening of the game confirmed our fears. Portage had no difficulty solving the defense, and eventually built up a 10-0 lead. Then Dan knifed in for a layup, and Justin made one inside. PCS scored again, but Ben closed out the scoring in the quarter with a three to make it a five point game at the quarter. The rest of the team had shown up at this time, and the starters were back on the floor to open the second. PCS had missed six free throws in the first quarter, but in the opening minutes of the second, the Patriots fouled the PCS player that could make them, and he did. Sam matched those with two of his own. The teams exchanged baskets, then Portage started finding the range from distance. They bracketed two threes around a made free throw and all of a sudden it was a twelve-point Pacer lead. But the Patriots started climbing back into it, scoring two baskets. Portage got those back, but that was it for them in the half. HSRC scored the last six, capped off by two free throws by Justin and were only down six at halftime.

Portage came out strong to start the second half. They scored the first seven while we couldn't find the range. Finally Justin split two free throws. PCS matched that and added a basket to go up fifteen. Lucas then knocked down a three, which PCS matched. Stan closed out our scoring in the quarter with an old-fashioned three point play. PCS made one more field goal to lead 42-28 at the end of three. PCS opened the scoring in the last quarter with a free throw. Then the frantic press and man-to-man defense Coach Boss implemented started paying off. Dan made a basket, then Sam, Justin and Dan each split pairs of free throws. Portage got three free throws to push the lead back out to thirteen. The Patriots weren't done, however. Justin was fouled while making a shot and made the free throw. Luke and Sam followed this with baskets of their own, but that was it. Portage added one more free throw and the Patriots went down by seven, 47-40.

Justin had a monster game with fifteen points, fifteen rebounds and three steals. The team had their biggest rebounding game of the season, pulling down 54. In addition to Justin's fifteen, Jimi had eight and Nate, Luke L and Sam each had seven. Jimi also had two steals.

A whole week between games. Wow. And we actually get to practice. Twice. Game schedule this week is Friday at Victory (junior high, JV, girls and varsity) and Saturday at home (Hidden Cove) against First Baptist of Mishawaka (junior high and varsity). See you there.

Another win for the guys

2011-02-02T20:22:00.000-08:00

On Monday the varsity teams played Grace Baptist of Kankakee. Last year's games were tightly contested, resulting in a 39-36 loss for the guys and a 34-32 win for the girls. This year we only had one close game, and it was the guys' turn for the win.

The girls were shorthanded, now for the rest of the season, as Holly is out with a torn ligament and tendon damage in her ankle. Grace has a good team, with a good ball-handler, a couple of good shooters, and a big presence in the middle. We have had more trouble against good ball-handling/ball-hawking teams, and that describes Grace this year. It didn't hurt them to have the six-footer in the middle either. She dominated the first quarter, as did Grace. Rachel couldn't get anything against her in the post, and our outside shooters were off as well. She had eight of their ten first-quarter points. We couldn't get anything to go on eleven shots. Cassidy popped in a three to open the second, but that was it for us. The game slowed down a little. Their center only got one free throw, but they got six from their guards and the lead was 17-3 at halftime. Rachel managed two free throws and Carolyn had a nice putback in the third, but we couldn't stop Grace's guards. They put in fourteen in the quarter. Their center got back into the action in the fourth, but their guards didn't slow down much. Cassidy made two baskets and Corinne one to give us six, but Grace scored twelve to make the final 43-13. Cassidy led in scoring with seven and added four steals. Rachel and Corinne each had five rebounds on a night that those were hard to come by. Rachel and Corinne each had a block

The guys came out with a lot of fire in their game. Coach Boss had them in a full-court press the whole game, and that seemed to get them going. Scoring still was an issue, but Justin, Luke L and Stan each got a basket while Grace was limited to four points. The pace of the game picked up in the second. Twenty-eight points were scored after only ten in the first. Happily, sixteen of the second quarter points were scored by the Patriots. Sam had a couple of buckets on drives, Stan added a bucket and free throw as did Lucas, and Justin, Jimi and Nate each made a shot. The third quarter was our toughest. Grace changed their offense to free up their guys for threes, and we didn't respond right away. Also, HSRC's shooting fell way off. After Lucas opened the second half scoring with a three, Grace scored nine in a row to tie it at 25. Stan put us back up with a nice mid-range jumper, but Grace closed the scoring in the quarter with another three and led by one. It was nip and tuck all through the fourth. I don't think either team led by more than two. Stan kept up his steady scoring with a basket. Justin and Sam each got a two and a foul shot, and Nate got another. Grace got the ball at the end trailing by two, but the guys didn't let them get off a good shot and came away with a 37-35 win, their second of the season. Scoring was quite balanced tonight, with Stan leading with nine, Justin and Sam with seven each and Lucas netting six. Justin also led with eight rebounds and a season-high seven steals. Sam had two assists and Nate got our only block.

I did say I was going to recap Saturday's game against HRK Gurnee, but I will sum it up by saying the guys were down 18-4 at the end of the first quarter and it went downhill from there. HRK Gurnee ended up with a 55-22 win. We ball-hawked pretty well, but didn't rebound and our shooting was very poor. Justin had six points and eight rebounds to lead the team. Sam, Dan and Lucas each had four steals, with Lucas adding two blocks and Sam two assists.

As of this writing, we don't know anything about this conference tournament, other than it will likely be on Friday for both teams. We will keep you posted.

Nearly lost weekend

2011-01-30T15:44:00.000-08:00

Three-fifths of the test of endurance that the stretch from this past Thursday to next Tuesday is complete. The outcomes were somewhat discouraging, as the Patriots won one of the six games played.

Thursday night the Patriots played the make-up game with Heritage. This was supposed to be our first games of the season for both our boys' and girls' varsity teams, but it was postponed because of tornado warnings that day. Both games were originally rescheduled, but the we canceled the girls game altogether when we found out that Rachel would be unavailable due to her ankle. So only the boys played, and the opponent was Heritage Christian's JV team. It turned out that Andrew was delayed at work, so Lucas's dad and I were the coaches. It looked like we knew what we were doing to start. Justin was working well underneath, making four of four from the field and one free throw, and Luke L. added a basket. Meanwhile the defense was strong, limiting Heritage to one field goal on thirteen attempts. In the second, HCHS started getting both their inside and outside game going. #4 scored on a three ball, and #33 worked inside for a basket and a free throw. Their defense improved as well, as they started keying on Justin. This open things up a bit for the perimeter players and Sam took advantage with two baskets. Nobody else could get the ball to fall though, and the lead was cut to seven at the half.

We switched to man-to-man in the third quarter, and that seemed to be a mistake. This defense usually is effective against outside shooting, but we kept losing #4 and he made three threes in the quarter, scoring nine of their fifteen points. Justin scored four for the Patriots in the quarter, but he had to take seven shots to get them. Luke L., Dan and Lucas each got a basket in the quarter, but the lead was trimmed to two entering the fourth. In that quarter, HCHS's inside game was unstoppable, and #2 and #33 scored fourteen of their eighteen points, six on free throws. We could only get ten shots off in the quarter and got outscored 18-10 in the final period to give HCHS a 41-35 victory. An incoherent substitution pattern and switching to the man-to-man defense seemed to be our downfall. Justin had fifteen points and twelve rebounds to lead the team in those categories. Luke L. had three assists and Sam had three steals. HSRC actually shot at higher percentage than HCHS and made more field goals, but HCHS had five threes to our none and ten made free throws to our three.

Friday it was FOFCA out of Channahon, but the games were played in Morris, IL. The junior high started things out, and it started well. It was 9-2 HSRC after one, behind four by Adam inside and a three from Devon and a basket by Trevor from the outside. #00 started heating up in quarter two, and it was a good thing for FOFCA, because he was their whole team. Adam sat quite in a bit in the quarter, and the outside shots were not falling for us. #00 scored all eight of their points and we only got a basket from Adam before he sat down. We had a lot of turnovers in the quarter which added to our offensive woes, and we only led by one at halftime, 11-10. Adam was back in for much of the third and he scored six in the quarter. Trevor added a bucket. FOFCA scored six, with a player other than #00 getting a basket. Meanwhile, the fouls were piling up for #00. He scored a on three-point shot early, then fouled out trying to stop Devon from driving. Devon, Trevor and Peter H. each scored a basket in the quarter, and Trevor added a free throw. Final score was 26-19, HSRC. Adam had twelve points and twenty-five rebounds. Yes, twenty-five. An organizational record, and one that won't likely be broken for a long time. Trevor scored seven and Devon had five. Peter H. added eight of the team's 47 rebounds. Henry and Adam each had four steals.

The varsity game was a great disappointment. HSRC had defeated FOFCA last year for one of their three wins, and as we were improved, were greatly hoping for one tonight. It turns out FOFCA was a little bit better too, adding a 6' 6" freshman. HSRC shot 19% for the night, not really because of FOFCA's defense, and went down to defeat 29-28.

Dan and Ben were not available, so we were a little shorthanded, but that really doesn't explain our shooting woes. Their big freshman had something to do with it, blocking several shots, but we were missing uncontested layups and wide-open jumpers. Justin did manage to get free for two baskets inside early. Adam, playing on varsity for the first time, scored on a freethrow. FOFCA scored six in the first to manage a one-point lead. Our scoring wasn't any better in the second. We matched the first quarter with five. FOFCA was scoring a little too easily in the quarter. They scored ten, with big #30 getting four inside. #5, the big freshman, was clogging things up underneath. Sam was the only one that could do anything offensively after the half, scoring all six of our points on drives and a jumper. We slowed FOFCA down a little, as they also scored only six, four by #5. Stan gave us some encouragement to begin the fourth, nailing a three to bring us to within three. Eventually we tied it up at 25, but then gave up two baskets to FOFCA to go down by four. Stan made a field goal and Lucas made one freethrow, but that was it. We took 21 more shots than the opponent, but made the same number as FOFCA. In addition to our 19% shooting, we only shot three of twelve free throws. Stan's three was the only one of the game. Sam scored ten to lead the team. Justin had fourteen rebounds and Lucas had three steals. HSRC also only had six turnovers in the game, a season low.

Saturday we made the long trek up to Gurnee to take on Home Run Kids. Coach Powers, Devon and Trevor couldn't make it, so we played the junior high game without our starting backcourt. Though not as bad as Landmark, it was another case of small gym, big team. HRK had two players six feet or taller. They were successful in keeping Adam under wraps, limiting him to four points. The lead was six at the end of one and just grew throughout the game. To prove that the last night's game was not a fluke, Adam pulled down nineteen rebounds to give him 44 over the last two games. Henry led in scoring with six; Adam had four and Peter E. had two. Henry also had two steals.

The girls's game was also not pretty. They were down 14-1 after one quarter, and it went downhill from there. Corinne was not able to be there, Holly and Rachel were both playing on injured ankles (Holly is likely out for the year) and Rachel ended up fouling out. The less said about this game and the way it was played (and reffed), the better. I think the fact that HRK outscored our girls 15-1 in the fourth quarter when they started the quarter with a 23-point lead sums it up. The final was 50-13. Holly had ten rebounds, four blocked shots and three steals. Rachel led with five points.

I will sum up the boys' game later.

Rachellessness, part 2...and Southside, part2

2011-01-24T20:40:00.000-08:00

Once was enough. Actually, once was too much. But here we are again, without our leading scorer and rebounder. And, as it was last time against Southside, the remaining players played hard, but came up short. The guys had a full complement, but they also came up short, but looked better doing so than last time.

Not only were the girls without Rachel, who reinjured her ankle against KTA in the final game of the Grace tournament this past weekend, but they were also without Melody, who was on vacation. That left five to take on Southside tonight. As you might imagine, the girls were repeatedly reminded to be careful about fouling, as we didn't want to end up as we did against KTA, with only three players eligible to play. Thankfully, no one fouled out tonight, though one, who shall remain nameless, came close. As I mentioned, we had played Southside once before without Rachel, losing 30-17. Tonight's final was nearly the same: 31-17. As was the case in the first one, shooting woes were our main problem. We shot 11.5% in game 1, and 15.7% tonight. We crashed the boards pretty well, pulling down 34 rebounds, but when we got the ball, we couldn't hold on to it, turning it over 30 times. We started out a little better, only trailing 11-2 tonight. Last time it was 18-0 at the end of one. We actually opened up the scoring on a shot by Cass, but that was the end of the scoring in period one. Again in period two, we started the scoring. Actually, we scored the first five points on a three by Corinne and a basket by Hannah, but again, that was the end of our scoring. We changed things around in the third, allowing Southside to score the first ten points, then we scored the next eight. Coach Boss had the girls picking up the defense in the middle of the period. Corinne, Carolyn, Cass and Hannah each scored two in the streak. While the defense remained strong, the ball just wouldn't drop for us in the fourth. The Patriots shot one-for-fourteen in the period, with Holly scoring the basket. On the other end, the girls kept Southside in check as well. They shot one-for-thirteen, giving them two points for the quarter as well. Corinne had five points, Hannah and Cassidy had four each, and Holly and Carolyn each had two. Holly led the team in rebounding with ten, and Carolyn added nine. Holly and Cass each had two assists, while Holly added two blocks. Corinne had six steals.

The guys were also defeated soundly the last time we played the Torchmen, losing 57-30. The guys lost 51-36 tonight, with the difference being the fourth quarter. Last time Southside seemed to figure out our frantic defense in the fourth quarter and outscored our guys 21-14. Tonight the guys made the offense work, after not being able to buy a basket the first three quarters. Stan was a big reason for that, knocking down three medium-range jumpers in the fourth. The Patriots shots 53% in the fourth quarter, leading to nineteen points, two more than Southside got. The shooting was a vast improvement over the first three quarters, when they shot only 21%. That resulted in an ever-growing deficit, five at the end of one, eleven at halftime and seventeen opening the fourth. Poor rebounding (second fewest this season) and a lot of turnovers (highest this season) didn't help either. Stan led in scoring, with thirteen points on six-for-eleven shooting. He also had four steals. Justin scored nine and also pulled down nine rebounds. Justin also had two assists and a block.

Thursday the varsity team is playing Heritage Christian High's JV team. We have requested that the girls game be canceled, as they play at a very high level and we really don't have enough girls to match up with their height without Rachel. We will keep you updated with details as they become available.

Steps back, sort of

2011-01-23T13:57:00.000-08:00

HSRC played five games in the last three days, and it's about time I blogged about them.

On Thursday, the JV and varsity boys traveled to Valparaiso to play Victory Christian. The last time these teams played was our first varsity game of the year, and it was a disaster. Victory led 37-0 at the half. At least we were certain that this one couldn't be worse.

But first there was a JV game. Our JV team hadn't won a game up to that point, but with one exception they were in every game. Tonight the theme was defense. It's quite likely that the Bears-Packers game today will have more points. Both Jimi and Lucas were playing JV tonight because Ben was not able to make the game. And without Jimi it might have been 1-0 after the first quarter. As it was, Jimi got a couple of baskets against the aggressive Victory man-to-man defense. And our defense, a tight 2-3, was frustrating VCA into taking shots they didn't want to take. The second quarter had even less scoring. Nate managed a couple of free throws and VCA got one field goal. 6-3 HSRC at the half. The third quarter saw an explosion of scoring, relatively speaking. Four different Patriots scored two each, while VCA was limited to a basket and two free throws. Stan got into the scorebook in the fourth, scoring all five of our points. VCA again scored four, this time on a three and a free throw. Final score, 19-11, and HSRC had their first JV victory of the year. Stan led in scoring with five, with Jimi and Nate adding four each. Nate had nine rebounds and Adam had seven. Luke added three steals.

We were expecting a lot more from the varsity than last game. We had played a couple of good games in the Calumet tournament, even though we lost, and were thinking that maybe we had a chance in this one. Well, at least we scored in the first half in this one. We still had no answer for their outside shooting, or if we did have one, it was the wrong one. When they did go inside, we not only let them score, we fouled them in the process. VCA got two three-point shots and two three-point plays in the quarter. Meanwhile, we still weren't solving their defense. We only got off six shots while committing seven turnovers in the quarter. Justin did score four, but it wasn't nearly enough and VCA led 20-7 at the end of one. Quarter #2 was marginally better. We got out a little on their outside shooters, but the Lions still scored fifteen in the quarter. Luke L. got a couple for us on put-backs and we made some free throws, but Justin was shut down. Score at the half was 35-16.

The third was similar to the first. Now #44 was scoring from the arc (#24 got them in the first) and the rest of scoring was spread out to the rest of the team. Justin got back on track with two baskets, but he only had two attempts. Sam got our only other basket in the quarter, and it was 54-22 blowout by the end of the third. We, as we have all year, got a little more urgent in the fourth, but by then it was too little, too late. Justin went to the freethrow line four times, making three and adding a field goal. Luke and Lucas each scored two points. VCA was limited to five in the quarter. Final score: VCA 59, HSRC 31. The difference in the game was shooting. VCA shot 46% to our 30% overall. They shot better from the arc, making eight of fifteen three-point attempts, while we were zero-for-eight. Justin led in scoring with thirteen. Luke L. had six rebounds to go with his eight points. Luke L, Justin and Lucas each had three steals.

Now to the girls. They were in the Grace Baptist tournament this weekend. The configuration kept changing as teams dropped out. First we were going to play Tri-Point, then we were going to play KTA, then finally it was decided to go to pool play and we were play La Lumiere and Tri-Point. Yay. Last year we played LaLumiere and lost by 21 and Tri-Point was the champion. At 1:30 on Friday we tipped off against LaLumiere. At the end of one it was 17-5, LaLumiere. Rachel got to the free throw line a lot, but that was about all we had. LaLumiere started their bench in the second. Rachel continued to go to the line, making four of six, and added a basket while Holly made a couple inside. The Lakers scoring continued as they got fifteen and it was 32-15 at halftime. LaLumiere didn't play much of their starters in the second half, but their scoring continued. We had trouble scoring in the third, shooting three for twelve, and the trips to the foul line stopped. In the fourth, Holly scored two more baskets, but Rachel was getting frustrated inside, with many of her shots blocked. The final score was 57-30. Rachel had sixteen points and nine rebounds in the game. Holly had ten with two steals.

Next was Tri-Point, the defending champ. After the first couple of minutes, TP came out with a zone press that our girls had a very difficult time figuring out. Rachel did score all seven of our points in the first quarter, but once the press was in place, we turned it over time after time. We slowed down their scoring a little but we could only manage a field goal by Cass in the second, and it was 38-9 at halftime. TP called off their press in the second half, but inexplicably left their starters in. Our shooting woes continued in the third. Hannah did score on a three and Corinne got her first bucket of the game to go with a basket by Rachel, but that was all we got. TP scored thirteen to extend the lead to 35 at the end of three. Most of TP's starters remained on the floor the fourth, but they only outscored the girls by one, and the final was 58-22. Rachel had eleven points, nine rebounds and two steals. Cassidy added six points.

Saturday the girls faced Kankakee Trinity Academy. Jimi's sister as well as Ashley W. plays for them, so we know them pretty well. For three quarters the game was back and forth and quite entertaining. KTA led by two at the end of the first quarter, it was tied at half and KTA again led by two at the end of three. It was a strange game in some respects. Rachel scored our first thirteen points; she then scored only seven more for the game. The Patriots shot 55% from the field through three quarters - our previous high for a game was 33%. KTA started pressing full court, but we kept throwing the ball over it to Rachel. Even when the throw wasn't accurate, we kept coming up with the loose ball. But near the end of the third, bad things began to happen. First, Carolyn fouled out with a few seconds left in the third. Since Melody was on vacation, that left us with only five players. A minute into the fourth, Rachel went down with another ankle injury. It was 41-40 at the time, but with only four players left, and our best player on the bench, we were pretty sure that was the game. And it was. KTA outscored the Patriots 19-4, as later we lost Cass to fouls and were down to three players. The final was 60-44, but it was the best game we played - well, at least the best three quarters - all season. Rachel, even missing most of the fourth, led the team with twenty points and ten rebounds. Holly and Cass had six each, and Hannah, Carolyn and Corinne each scored four. Carolyn added eight rebounds. Rachel had four assists, including a beautiful pass over the top of the defense to Cassidy for an easy layup, while Cass had three and Corinne had two. Carolyn and Hannah each had two steals. The teams ended up shooting 51% for the game, quite an achievement.

Hopefully Rachel won't be out as long as the last time, but we don't know yet. We do have a game tomorrow against Southside, so we will be playing with five as Melody is still on vacation. The guys also will be playing tomorrow. Then, beginning Thursday, will be the test of our endurance. The guys play Heritage on Thursday; junior high and varsity boys against FOFCA on Friday; JH, JV, varsity boys and varsity girls on Saturday against HRK in Gurnee; JH boys, varsity boys and girls against Grace the following Monday, and the first round of the conference (boys vs. Portage, girls vs. Granger) on Tuesday.

Little by little

2011-01-16T15:47:00.000-08:00

The guys are getting better. Yesterday morning, bright and early, the HSRC varsity boys team lost to Kankakee Trinity Academy by twelve, playing without our starting point guard. Granted, KTA played a lot of their bench in the second and fourth quarters, but it still was nice to see the team play well against a team that could well have beaten us by thirty or more early in the season. And if Sam wasn't hurt, it also might have been a different story.

Because we were without our primary ballhandler, the first quarter was full of turnovers. The shooting wasn't bad, three for eight, but the guys had a hard time hanging onto the ball. KTA was bombing in threes, four of them in the quarter. We also had difficulty rebounding, only getting seven in the quarter. Because of the ballhandling and rebounding, KTA had nine more attempts than we did. That with the three-point shooting resulted in a 18-8 KTA lead after one. KTA's bench wasn't nearly as productive as their starters, and our defense was better, so the Eagles only scored seven in the second quarter. Problem was that HSRC only scored five. Lucas kept getting good drives to the basket, but the ball wouldn't go down for him. And except for a couple by Justin, it wouldn't go down for anyone else, either. The Patriots shot two for fifteen for the quarter.

Both teams woke up on offense in the third quarter. Lucas working it in to Luke L. for easy inside baskets was very effective for a stretch, generating four baskets. Overall, the guys scored fourteen in the quarter, one more than they scored in the entire first half. However, KTA was even more effective. Their shooting percentage was a little better than ours, but three of theirs were three-pointers. Throw in two free throws and they scored 21 in the quarter, giving them a nineteen-point lead opening the fourth. Coach then put in a full court trapping press. That, combined with KTA's playing of their bench, enabled HSRC to run off twelve straight points, cutting the lead to seven. That was as close as we came, however, as KTA picked up their play and finished with a 9-4 run.

Justin was the scoring star of the game, finishing with a personal and team season high of 21. Luke L. added ten and was the team leader in rebounds with twelve. Lucas, while having a tough shooting night, set the team high for assists in a game this season with six. Jimi had two blocks while Stan, Lucas and Nate each had two steals. Justin totaled 39 points and 20 rebounds for the tournament, and was rewarded with one of the eight all-tournament positions, so congrats to Justin.

This week we have no practice, with the school closed on Monday and JV and varsity boys games at Victory on Thursday. The girls finally get back to action on Friday at 1:30 against KTA at the Grace Baptist tournament in Kankakee. One other thing: I neglected to note Carolyn's setting her career high in points with seven, set against Christian Haven last Saturday. She also hauled down ten rebounds in the game. Rachel kind of overshadowed everyone in that game, but Carolyn also had a big game.

Maybe a beginning of a trend?.....

2011-01-14T20:43:00.000-08:00

Three points down with 4:48 to go. Three points down to a team that were haven't been closer than thirty behind in the fourth in two previous meetings this year. What a difference a week makes.

The boys went down to defeat on the opening round of the Calumet Winter Classic tonight, losing to the host team for the third time this year. But this was a completely different game than the first two. The two losses were both by forty, and the cliche, "it was closer than the final score", did not apply. They were both thrashings. Tonight, however, not only weren't we blown out, we were within striking distance until withering under the full court press Calumet implemented in the final few minutes. The guys lost by fifteen, but in this case, it WAS closer than the final score.

The first order of business was to slow down CCS's offense. Mission accomplished. After allowing Calumet to shoot 46% in the first halves of the first two games, our guys held CCS to eight baskets in twenty-eight attempts. More importantly, the guys started playing defense with their feet. They weren't reaching in like the first two games. In the first two games, CCS went to the line nineteen times in the first half. Tonight it was only four. First two games: 68 points given up in the first half; tonight, 19. Secondly, the objective was to cut down on turnovers. We really didn't cut down on the overall number, but the type of turnovers were from aggressive play, rather than weak, lazy passes on the perimeter that plagued us in the first two games.

Overall, the guys were patient on offense and aggressive on defense. Since they were patient, the fact that they scored about the same amount in the first half as the first two times we played, indicated that our offense was much more efficient. The score at the end of one was 10-6, CCS. Calumet kept inching up the lead in the second. Inching is the operative term. Not feeting or yarding. CCS scored nine to our six in the quarter, so the halftime lead was seven, 19-12. Leads at the end of the first two games? 35-9 and 33-12. Our Patriots shot six for fourteen in the quarter, a very good percentage for us. However, it looked like the party was over early in the third quarter. Calumet pushed the lead out to eleven, 27-16, but HSRC scored the last two baskets in the quarter and the lead was the same as it was at half, seven. Then, for the first three plus minutes of the fourth, it looked like we might even pull this one out. Michael, put in for his defense, popped in a three. Calumet scored, then we scored. 29-25. CCS split two throws, and then we scored for the high point of the game, 30-27 Calumet. CCS outscored then outscored us 19-7 down the stretch for the final score of 49-34. Justin had a big game with eighteen points on eight of twelve shooting, and also pulled down twelve rebounds.

I was not able to attend the junior high guys' tournament today at Landmark in Tinley Park, but the report is that the boys faced a team with several six-footers and were beaten soundly, but pulled out the consolation game 27-20 and won the third place trophy. Congrats, guys!

Tomorrow the varsity plays Kankakee Trinity at 8:20 in the first round of the losers' bracket in the double-elimination tournament. The elementary team plays at Deer Creek in Crete at 10. Come on out and support the guys.

What a way to get our first win! and other fun stuff

2011-01-08T21:32:00.000-08:00

There are several different kinds of sports joy. One I experienced with the Calumet Christian volleyball national championship this past fall. That was where your team is extremely talented and wins 43 matches in a row, culminating in rolling over the defending champion in the championship game. That kind is where you expect your team to win, but you know that unexpected things come up that might derail you, so when the championship is won, it's joy with a tinge of relief. Another is when your team is losing games rather soundly, your offense isn't working too well, but then you find yourself tied, late in a game, say with 8.5 seconds left, and you have the ball. A play is called involving several passes leading to a somewhat contested three-pointer from the corner. As it goes up, the buzzer goes off. On the way down it brushes against the backboard. And goes straight through the net. This is joyful because it's unexpected, sudden, and gives your team its first win of the year. That's was happened tonight, with Lucas hitting the long one to give the varsity boys the last-second 42-39 victory over Christian Haven at our home court at Hidden Cove in Bourbonnais.

That victory capped off a great night of basketball for HSRC. The girls started things off a big win over Christian Haven's girls. They started somewhat slowly offensively, scoring seven in the first quarter, but the defense was solid as they gave up only two. The fouls started piling up on CH in the second quarter. HSRC went to the line twelve times, making five. The Patriots were also rather proficient from the field, getting a lot of their eight baskets on putbacks. CH's total output for the quarter was two improbable threes by #14. The fouls seem to dry up in the third, but not the offense from HSRC. Rachel scored eight points and Holly and Cassidy each added a basket. The defense was still good, holding CH to one basket. Coach Boss sat Rachel down for the fourth quarter, but that only gave the other girls opportunities to get on the board. Melody, Hannah, Cassidy and Holly each scored in the quarter, so every member of the team scored in the game. CH scored on one three in the quarter. The final score was HSRC 53, CH 13. At least two records were broken in the game. One was the most points in a game by the team. The old record was 49, set last year against Brentwood. I'm also quite sure that we hadn't ever scored 21 in a quarter before, as we did in the second. The other was points by one player in game. The former record holder was Kara Boss, who scored 20 against Luther East two seasons ago. Tonight Rachel scored 22 in only three quarters of play. Rachel added thirteen rebounds, four steals and two blocks. Cassidy and Corinne each had three assists. Holly got her offense going tonight, finishing with eleven.

The boys' JV game was ended up very close, but for most of the game that wasn't the case. The first quarter was even, with CH leading by two at quarter end. Both teams shot well in the quarter. CH outscored HSRC 12-4. Our shooting went quite cold, and CH's sharpshooting from long-distance really picked up. CH took only threes in the quarter, making four of nine. The score at the half was CH 26, HSRC 16. The Patriots made a little run in third, pulling to within six, but then CH scored six in a row and led by twelve, 38-26 at the end of three. The guys cranked up the intensity on defense in the fourth. This resulted in a couple of fast breaks, finished by Luke with baskets. Luke also scored on a jumper and Jimi scored on a basket and a free throw. The defense completely shut down CH - they did not score in the fourth. The guys got to within three and got possession back with 0.9 seconds left. Coach Boss set up a play, and it apparently worked. Ben had a wide open three, but it bounced off the rim and the JV went down to defeat, 38-35. Adam led in scoring with ten, and Luke and Nate each had eight. Nate had nine rebounds and four steals, while Adam had three assists.

The varsity game was back and forth throughout the match, fitting for a game ending on a buzzer-beater. The boys played with an energy they didn't seem to have the night before. Lucas was making nice drives to the basket and finishing, while mayhem was going on under the basket, preventing Justin from having his usual offensive game. That didn't affect his rebounding or defense, as that remained at a high level. At the end of one, it was 9-8 CH, but then the Patriots took the lead in the second and held it into the fourth. HSRC led by two at the half and four at the end of three. But CH scored the first six points in the fourth, and the game was back-and-fourth from there. Michael had a nice strip and breakaway layup to tie the game, which set the stage for the closing theatrics. Lucas was the high scorer for the game with sixteen. Justin had thirteen rebounds, Sam had two assists and three steals.

So now that we got that monkey off our back, let's see if we can get some more wins. Go Patriots!!

One bright spot in a couple of tough nights

2011-01-08T09:12:00.000-08:00

The Patriots are two-thirds of the way through an intensive weekend of basketball, and so far are 1-5. The lone win was a dominating performance by the junior high team against Calumet last night. The final was 27-14, but that was only because the starters didn't play much in the fourth quarter. We led Calumet by 21 entering the fourth, but Calumet outscored us 10-2 in that quarter.

Alas, but all the other games were losses, most of them not close. On Thursday the junior high and girls' team traveled to Hinsdale to play Hinsdale Adventist Academy. The guys played tough the first quarter, only trailing 6-4, but then HAA's depth and height started to wear us down, and they shut us down in the second quarter while scoring twelve. The third quarter was a little better, as Adam and Devon managed a basket each, but we still had trouble holding down HAA. They scored ten in the quarter to make it 28-8 entering the fourth. The last quarter was similar to the previous two. We only managed to get off five shots, making none as we had trouble rebounding and holding on to the ball. We did score three from the free throw line. Hinsdale kept up their steady pace and scored eight to make the final 36-11. Adam had six points and six rebounds, and Devon had three steals.

The girls finally got back to it after a long layoff. We had beaten HAA last year in overtime, so we knew they had a pretty good program. Their leading scorer had graduated, but the rest of their top players were back, plus they had an influx of new students this year, three of whom joined the girls' basketball team. The game started with HAA jumping out to the early lead. HSRC got baskets from Rachel inside and a put-back by Carolyn, but HAA scored eight in the quarter. Rachel made some nice moves down low in the second, scoring on three of five attempts, while also making one free throw. That was all of the team's output, however, and HAA matched their total from the first quarter, so the deficit was five at half. Rachel continued to be our only scorer in the third, but the team had trouble getting it in to her as HAA clogged up the middle. They were also picking up Cassidy outside her shooting range, and the outside shots from her teammates were not falling. Meanwhile, HAA was getting baskets from several different players, and scored twelve in the quarter to our two (Rachel). The pattern continued into the fourth. Our girls started shooting threes in an attempt to catch up, but only one of Corinne's went in. Rachel got one more inside but that was it. HAA scored seven, and the final was HAA 35, HSRC 18. Free throw shooting continued to be a problem. HSRC shot one-for-seven in the game. Rachel led with thirteen points and ten rebounds. She and Holly led the team with two steals apiece.

Last night it was Calumet. The boys' teams had played CCS in the last weekend of play in 2010 and had come away with a junior high win and JV and varsity losses. As earlier noted, the junior high team picked up another win at CCS's expense, this time more convincingly. Devon, Henry and Trevor each scored six in the game, while Adam got four in limited playing time. Adam led the team with six rebounds. Devon grabbed seven steals while Trevor got six.

The JV had their third game of the year, and it was their closest. Last time they played CCS, they lost by ten. This time the deficit was six, but the game was not decided until the last couple of minutes. It didn't look like it was going to be close at first. We couldn't stop their number three, and he got seven. HSRC had difficulty solving CCS's defense, so we settled for outside shots that did not fall. CCS led 13-2 at the end of one. Coach Boss changed the defense, and the guys started shutting down CCS in the second. HSRC only allowed four points while four different players of ours scored baskets, including a three by Ben. Stan and Nate scored inside, and Luke also added a bucket. Coach Boss inserted Lucas into the lineup in the second half, and he and Nate scored four each in the third. Stan got one and Ben added a freethrow. Meanwhile, the defense continued its good play, only giving up four again, and we took the lead by one entering the fourth. However, except for a couple of nice inside baskets by Nate and a shot by Lucas, our offense was non-existent except from the free throw line, where we scored five. HSRC dropped behind and had to foul, so CCS also went to the free throw line a lot in the fourth, scoring seven from there to go with their five baskets. Final was CCS 38, HSRC 32. One notable stat was blocks - Nate had six, and none were just tipped. Nate also led with twelve points while Adam was the team leader in rebounds with ten. Stan had three assists and two steals.

Last and least, at least in regards to outcome, was the varsity game against CCS. We had lost by forty to them the first time we played, and the deficit was the same last night. The guys had trouble running the plays they had practiced in the face of the aggressive CCS defense, and we soundly beaten on the boards. Our defense was sluggish, while CCS played hard and efficiently on offense. The deficit was fourteen at the end of one, 21 at half, and thirty at the end of three. The final was 64-24. Justin led with seven points and twelve rebounds and Jimi added two assists and three blocks.

Our first home game of the season is tonight. This is also the first home game ever for the boys' teams. Three years ago we hosted a couple of girls games at Elim Christian School, but we have not had any since. Please come out and make it a home game atmosphere. Looking forward to seeing you there. Also a note: the game schedule shows the games at 4, 5:15 and 6:30 but the last email indicated that the start times would be 4, 5, and 6. The games will immediately follow the preceding one, so the game times are approximate. If you are just coming out for one of the later games, plan on the earlier times just in case.

Back to it with a flurry of schedule changes

2011-01-05T20:03:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow marks the beginning of the 2011 portion of the 2010-2011 basketball season, with a junior high boys game and a girls game against Hinsdale Adventist Academy. We couldn't get on Hinsdale's varsity boys' schedule, and it sounds like a good thing, as they picked up a 6'6" (6'8" according to Calumet's people) transfer student from Boston, who is averaging 20+ points and 15+ rebounds per game. Friday we have four games (JH, JV and varsity boys, and varsity girls) against Calumet. Over the last couple of weeks we picked up a few games: one of those was a JV game added to the Saturday games at "home" against Christian Haven. This gives us nine games total over the next three days, so any help with book and stats will be appreciated. We are also lining up help with clock, book, admissions, etc. for the Saturday game. I will try to keep up on the blogging but I am making no promises.

We also were invited to a small junior high tournament at Landmark on January 14. That should be, well, interesting. Hopefully it won't be quite so bruising as the last time we were there. The Heritage games (girls and our varsity boys against their JV boys) have been rescheduled for January 27. I was able to witness their girls' game last night. They will certainly be the tallest team we play all year. We are waiting to hear on an elementary game against Deer Creek, but we have not received any details on that to date. Also, we have the information on the tournaments the boys and girls have in January. The boys open Friday, January 14 at 1:30PM against the host team (yes, we play Calumet again). If we win, we play at 6:50 that evening; if we lose, we play at 8:20 Saturday morning. It's a double elimination tourney, so we are guaranteed two games. The girls will be playing Tri-Point (winner of the tournament last year) on Friday, January 21 at 1:30. If we win, we play at 10:00AM on Saturday; if we lose we play at 6:00PM on Friday. It looks like the conference tournament will take place only on February 4 and 5; the February 1 date will not be needed. The tournament will take place in Granger and Mishawaka, IN. When we get details, we will pass them on to you.

Hopefully we get a breakthrough for the varsity teams this weekend. We are looking forward to seeing you out there cheering on the Patriots.The HSRC Patriots, that is.

Ouch

2010-12-22T20:04:00.000-08:00

And I mean that literally as well as figuratively.

We were happy when we got the opportunity to add more junior high and elementary games. I hope the boys are still happy. They played Landmark on Monday, and they have the scars to prove it. I don't really blame Landmark for the physicality, as they were just doing what they were allowed.

Actually, this year so far we have been pretty happy with the reffing. Last year it seemed that the officiating was much more biased toward the home team. This year, with probably one exception, the officiating has been pretty balanced. And yesterday it was pretty balanced as well, but Landmark is a much more physical team than HSRC. Since the refs were not calling much except for jump balls, and Landmark was the more physical team, it definitely favored them. We just don't reach in like they do, so we aren't sure what would have happened if we played like them. Some sort of a mobile wrestling match, I would guess.

Even with that, the boys played very tough. They led by one after the first quarter. Devon got free on the baseline for a couple of short jumpers and Henry made a free throw to give them the 5-4 lead. The even play continued into the second. Devon and Henry each made a basket. Landmark matched those and added a free throw to tie the score at nine at halftime. After half, Landmark's #25 started taking it hard to the hoop, either down the lane or on the baseline. He finished every time he did with a basket, scoring ten in quarter. Henry and Devon continued to be the Patriot's offense. Devon got four and Henry three. The court was so small the others were having difficulty getting room to even take a shot. The third quarter score was 22-17 in favor of Landmark. The fourth quarter was frantic. Many shots went up, from both teams, but few went in. In fact each team only got one basket and one free throw each, so the deficit remained at five at game end. Final score was 25-20. Devon had fourteen and Henry six to account for all of our scoring. Henry and Mark each had six rebounds. Devon also had seven steals and Henry added two blocks.

Landmark's junior high team, though not as tall as Crossroad's, was still quite tall, And we, without Adam and Peter, are quite short. Landmark's advantage was increased by the limited size of their gym, which negated any speed advantage we might have had. In the first half, Landmark used their height to great advantage. #33 and #45 continually got free underneath for layups, and there was little we could do about it. On the offensive end, we soon figured out that we were not going to get much close in. We only scored five to Landmark's twenty in the first, so we changed the strategy to shooting from the outside. Trevor started making them, so while were not able to slow down Landmark's offense, we did score more - nine to be exact - in the second. Landmark matched their first quarter output with twenty, and it was 40-14 at halftime.

Landmark's bench came out for the second. After a bit, we changed our offense, realizing that we could go back inside with most of the opponent's bigger players on the bench. Devon and Trevor scored six between them. The defense shut down Landmark's bench, allowing only two points in the third quarter, so the lead was down to 22 to begin the fourth. Landmark kept in their bench players and we increased the pressure defense. This led to many steals and layups. We got as close as five, 42-37, when Landmark put back their two big players. They quickly scored five and shut us down our offense, so the game ended 47-37. Trevor led in scoring with 22. Peter E. had nine rebounds. Trevor and Devon each had five steals to lead the team.

No games now until January 6 (girls and junior high boys). Varsity and JV boys' next game is January 7 against Calumet. Have a merry Christmas and a happy New Year, and we will see you next year (except the players - we will see you at South Suburban Sports Complex next week).

Lots of games, a little recap

2010-12-18T19:01:00.000-08:00

We had quite the flurry of games the last two days, totaling six between junior high, JV and varsity boys. We only came out on top in one of them, but progress is being made. Now we have a few weeks to nail down some stuff in practice before we get back at it in the new year.

On Thursday the boys went up against Calumet Christian. Calumet is the school for which Kelsey and Kara played volleyball. Kelsey is currently coaching the JV volleyball team there. We know a lot of people there and they know us. We didn't know their junior high boys basketball team, however. The first quarter saw a lot of HSRC shots - twelve to be exact. They came from everywhere and from everyone. Only one found the mark. Calumet, on the other hand was much more efficient, shooting 33%. Thankfully they only got off three shots so the score was tied at two at the end of the first. The Patriots started taking better shots in quarter number two. Devon, Adam and Trevor each scored basket in the quarter, but Calumet also started finding the range, scoring two field goals and a free throw in the quarter. Quarter three looked like the first quarter; we took a lot of shots but only one went in and Calumet took only a few shots (four) but they also got a basket, so HSRC led by one entering the fourth. The teams traded baskets in the fourth, but our guys got the first one and the last one. Shooting picked up again in the quarter with HSRC making three of the eight they attempted. CCS took the same number of shots but only made two, so the final score was HSRC 16, Calumet 13. Adam led in scoring with six and rebounding with seven. He and Trevor each had five steals.

HSRC's first true JV game followed. The roster consisted of Lucas, Luke D, Ben, Nate, Peter E, Peter H and Adam, but Peter E was in a play that evening and was not avaible. Trevor sat on the bench in case was needed. The guys were a little tight at the start, but they loosened up. Lucas set the tone with aggressive play to the basket. He made his first two shots; then the team went a little cold. We had trouble stopping #'s 2 and 3 from CCS as they scored seven between them in the quarter. The pace in the second slowed considerably. This seemed to favor our guys. They made four out of ten shots, three by Lucas and a three by Luke D. Adam added a free throw. The defense was solid, limiting CCS to a field goal and three free throws, so we had a two-point lead at the half. Things began falling apart in the third. We could not stop #2 who got ten of CCS's twelve in the quarter. CCS shot 55% in the quarter while we only made two of ten. CCS took a lead of five into the fourth. We continued to have difficulty stopping them. Our shooting was decent, but we didn't get a lot of shots off. CCS ended up pulling away, winning by the score of 35-25. Lucas scored 17, and added six rebounds. Ben had three steals and Nate picked up a block.

We had seen their varsity play at the Victory tournament and the looked pretty good. They are very well coached and have one very good player, Derric Obinger, and several other good ones. Victory, undefeated in conference, beat CCS by only one in their first meeting. The guys thought that they could give them a game; however, that did not turn out to be the case.

As has been our pattern, we could not get our offense going early. CCS didn't really have that problem, getting twelve in the quarter. Our total offensive output was a basket by Luke L. We shot one for ten in the quarter. CCS was not great but better than HSRC, shooting five for fourteen. #24, Derric O., got seven of their twelve points. He continued the barrage in the second. He knocked down two twos and two threes, and only missed two shots in the quarter. His teammates gave him more help than in the first, scoring thirteen, mostly inside and a lot on put-backs, as our rebounding was terrible. Besides Justin, our shooting was horrible too. Justin made three of the four shots he took, and the rest of the team went oh-for-ten. Lucas did get a free throw, but CCS outscored us 23-7 in the quarter and led 35-9 at the half.

There was more of the same in the third quarter. Until Sam got a basket near the end of the quarter, Justin was the only one making shots while Calumet continued to exploit our interior defense. Derric only scored two points, but his teammates scored fifteen. The lead stretched out to thirty-five by the end of the quarter. We did get more shots off in the fourth as the guys tried to make it respectable, but they just wouldn't go down. CCS did a little better than we did, making three but also adding two freethrows. Final score: 61-21, CCS. Justin had twelve points and eight rebounds. Stan and Luke L each had a steal, and Dan had two blocks.

Next up was Crossroads. They have been a strong program, and from what we heard and read, they are very strong this year. We had some boys swallowing hard when the the Crossroads JH came out. There were two players that were at least six feet, and they were not skinny. Our outside shots were not dropping early, and with the big players that Crossroads have, our inside shots weren't either. Adam did get fouled once taking a shot and made one of his free throws. On the other side, their big guys were getting inside to score. Crossroads played a lot of subs in the second quarter, which helped Adam, who scored seven in the quarter, which was our total offensive output. Meanwhile Crossroads, even with the subs in, kept up their offense, scoring eight, which made it 20-8 at the half.. Their big guys came back in to begin the second half and there just wasn't anything we could do with them. Trevor made a free throw for all of our scoring in the quarter, while Crossroads scored twenty. Their subs came back in, but our guys were so flustered that they threw the ball away a lot. We ended up with thirty-four turnovers. Henry finally got one to go in in the fourth, and Adam got another, but that was it. Crossroads got eleven, resulting in the final of 51-13. Adam led in scoring with ten, and also in rebounding with eleven. Trevor had three steals and two blocks.

The shocks continued when Crossroad's JV team came out. They had one player that appeared to about six-foot-seven, and several more that were well over six feet. HSRC was not intimidated and came out strong to start. However, the shooting woes continued. The Patriots did a good job to limit Crossroads to ten in the first, but could only muster four themselves. The second was the same as the first. We could only get one to go here, a three by Luke D, and Crossroads matched their first quarter output with ten more. 20-7, Crossroads at half. Crossroads really blew it open in the third. #52, who the Patriots kept in check in th first half, scored seven and #1 added six. Our offense was nowhere to be found, as HSRC made one basket in twelve attempts. Adam got very aggressive in the fourth, crashing the boards and establishing as strong presence underneath on offense . He scored six in the quarter and the team scored ten, doubling their total through three. Crossroads managed eleven, so the final score was 47-20. The game was strangely encouraging, as the guys inability to make shots was a big reason why the game wasn't closer. Every other aspect of their game was solid. Surprisingly, considering he had just played nearly a whole game, Adam had eight points, fifteen rebound and four steals to lead the team in each of those categories. Nate added three assists and three blocks.

Our last game of the weekend was the varsity contest against Crossroads. Crossroads is ranked among the top homeschool teams in the country, so we figured this was going to be a learning experience. As it turned out, several key members of their team didn't play. Thankfully. Still, Crossroads had two guys playing that were six-five and over 200 pounds. We just didn't have anyone to match up with those guys. Crossroads exploited their height advantage on the way to a 19-4 first quarter lead. The Patriots played hard, though, and didn't give up. It was more of the same in the second. We couldn't do anything with #15 and he kept going. Crossroads outscored us 16-6 to put them up 35-10 at half. #15, one of the big guys, already had twelve points.

Our offense heated up in the third. Dan finally got some shots to fall, showing in a game what we see in practice. He had a nice mid-range floater, and later in the quarter hit a very nice three. Justin got two baskets and Sam added on. The Patriots slowed Crossroads a little in the quarter but they still got fourteen. We lost the offensive magic in the fourth, but limited Crossroads on the defensive side. Jimi and Justin each got a basket but that was it. Crossroads scored nine, and the final was Crossroads 58, HSRC 25. Justin had twelve points and five rebounds to lead the team. Michael had two assists, Stan had two steals, and Dan had three blocks.

After an elementary game and junior high game on Monday (at Landmark in Tinley Park), the teams are off for the holiday break. Three practice sessions are reserved at South Suburban Sports Complex in Crete during the break and the practice time will be very beneficial.

Merry Christmas!

More learning experiences

2010-12-15T19:43:00.000-08:00

Both the boys and girls were engaged last night in Oak Lawn against the Torchmen of Southside Baptist, and both went down to defeat, the girls losing 30-17 and the boys 57-30.

Last year the the girls beat Southside twice, the first time by eight and the second by thirteen.We knew we were quite a different team that last year. Southside was also quite a bit different, having lost several girls themselves. The difference in the game turned out to be one of their girls that didn't graduate - #15, Na'Kya Latting. Only a sophomore, she was their best ball handler, shooter and defender. In the first quarter she set the tone. She made all four of her shots, got several rebounds from the guard position and dished the ball off for her teammates. There seemed to be a lid on our basket in the quarter. Twelve shots went up for us, and twelve did not go through the rim. Besides the eight scored by Latting, ten more were scored by Southside and it was 18-0 after one quarter. Late in the quarter Holly came in for Corinne, who wasn't fully recovered from being sick.

Southside played a lot of their bench in the second, but our girls also started playing more confidently. The lid on the basket remained, however. Shorly before halftime Cassidy finally got one to go, and with the tough defense and the weaker play from Southside's bench, they also only got two and the lead remained at eighteen at halftime.

We kept firing it in the second, and this time two went in, one of which was a three. The defense remained strong, only giving up two points again, and the lead was cut to fifteen. Southside put most of the starters back in to begin the fourth, but that didn't stop our shots from falling. The girls scored more baskets in the fourth, four, than they had the first three quarters. Cassidy made two two-pointers and one more three and Corinne added a three in the quarter. Southside's starters were much more proficient than their bench offensively, but the Patriots held them to eight.

Cassidy got all the points in the game except for the three by Corinne. Corinne and Carolyn led in rebounding with seven each. Hannah had two assists to go with two blocks. Cassidy had five steals and Holly had four.

The boys started a bit better than the girls, but still put themselves in a hole to being the game, starting with an easy Southside basket off the tip. The guys were a little tight to begin, showing their rust from not playing for ten days. Jimi was the only one to score in the first, while Southside got eleven. We started getting more shots off, but they still rarely went in. Justin, Stan, and Luke L. each got a basket, but it took fifteen shots to get them. Southide scored at about the same pace, and their lead was 24-8 at half.

In the second half, the Patriots started running their offense more effectively. Justin started getting open at the elbow. Luke L. continued to hit the boards. The guys shot 4-for-12, after shooting 4-for-27 in the first half. Southside maintained their scoring pace, getting twelve in the quarter to stretch the lead to twenty after three. HSRC had gone to a man-to-man in the third, and Southside started to exploit it in the fourth. Our guys had not had the practice time to effectively learn to help in that defense, and Southside got many easy baskets in the quarter. They were also patient, only taking good shots, while our guys couldn't afford that luxury, needing to make up the deficit. So while our scoring picked up (we got fourteen), we gave up a lot of points - 21 to be exact, resulting in the final deficit of 27.

Scoring was pretty balance for the Patriots. Justin scored seven, Luke L. six, Michael five, and Jimi and Stan four. Justin led the team with seven rebounds. Luke L., Michael and Sam each got two steals. Luke L. added two blocks to his stat line.

Our busy week continues tomorrow. We have three boys' games against Calumet, beginning with a junior high game at 4:30. JV follows at 5:30 and the varsity boys finish the night with a game beginning at 7. The games are at the Lincoln Center in Highland, Indiana. See you there.

Stats

2010-12-11T18:26:00.000-08:00

Stats for the girls' and boys' team:

Luther East v.2

2010-12-08T21:04:00.000-08:00

Last night we played half of the games we originally planned to play at Luther East. We got word in the afternoon that, due to illness and bad grades, Luther East didn't have enough boys to play our scheduled game. The girls game, however, was still on. We had just played Luther East in the loser's bracket at the Victory Invite on Saturday, losing 35-20. Of course we were adjusting to playing without Rachel, who had gone down in the first game, and with only five players. And, of course with me coaching. On the other side, I learned from the coach that three of his players had other engagements on Saturday. As we arrived, LE was on the floor warming up, and sure enough, there were at least a couple of players we didn't recognize.

Holly, Cass's sister, had joined the team and had practiced for the first time Monday. Since she had so little practice time, Coach was going to play her very little, but circumstances dictated a change in that strategy. The starting five then were, well, everyone else that was healthy. Rachel was at the game, not on crutches, but walking with a noticeable limp. The girls started out very well. Hannah made her first attempt and Cassidy made her second. Later Cassidy dropped in a three and the girls were ahead 7-2. Coach put in a 2-1-2 defense to combat LE's deadly outside shooting and it worked very well, especially early. Later in the quarter LE started heating up, but not before HSRC had their first four-point play attempt. Hannah hit a three and got fouled in the process. She missed the free throw, but it was a first in Patriot history, as far as I can remember. The Patriots had a 12-7 lead until LE hit a three right at the end of the quarter.

The scoring slowed in the second, as LE started getting more aggressive on defense. HSRC maintained their lead, but just barely. Corinne scored her first basket to put us up four. LE made a shot, then Cassidy got her second three. After LE had pulled to within three on a basket, Hannah again got fouled on a three attempt, but this time the shot didn't go in. She made one of the ensuing three free throws to put the Patriots up four. Meanwhile, Carolyn picked up her fourth foul, as she was trying to deal with girls much larger than she under the basket, so Holly came in for the first time. One more time LE scored late, and the lead remained at two at the half.

After the halftime break, LE came out very strong on defense. Cass wasn't finding the top of the key open like she did earlier, as it seemed LE was playing a match-up zone. At least they were pulling the top of the zone out and picking up Cass outside of her shooting range. The result was more turnovers and fewer shots for our girls. Hannah scored first, making a free throw after yet another foul on a three-point attempt. Our only other score was a three-pointer by Hannah. LE wasn't making their threes, but they were crashing the boards and making twos. They pulled ahead for the first time in the quarter and ended leading 24-22 at the end of the quarter.

LE's defense was very aggressive in the fourth. They were as active in the fourth as they were passive in the first. They were getting nearly every loose ball and every contested rebound. LE outscored the Patriots 13-3 over the first five minutes or so of the quarter, with our only basket being a three by Corinne. She was being left open, but besides the one, the shots were not dropping for her. Coach encouraged the girls to pick up the defense full-court at this point. They were very tired, but responded to the request. Melody's aggressive play paid off on a short shot in the lane that went in for the first points of her career. Later Corinne was fouled and made both of her free throws. Our defense shut LE down, but those were the only points we could score, and the game ended 37-29 in favor of the hosts.

Hannah and Cassidy tied for scoring honors, each tallying 10 for the game. Corinne had her biggest scoring night with seven, and Melody's basket rounded out the scoring. Corinne continued her rebounding prowess, pulling down twelve boards while Melody added eight. Cassidy had a nice passing night with four assists. Melody had three steals and Cassidy had three blocks.

Our next games are scheduled for next Tuesday, December 14. I am going to stop saying "our next games are" because the way things are going this year, we can't depend on any game happening for certain. The games are against Southside Baptist in Oak Lawn. Girls' game is at 4:30 and the boys' is at 6:00. See you there.

Getting our feet wet

2010-12-05T19:00:00.000-08:00

The season finally got underway yesterday. We thought perhaps, after losing a game to potential tornados, we might lose the next four to snow. Thankfully the snow was not as bad as predicted, and the Victory Invitional went off without a hitch.

Unless, of course, you consider losing your best basketball player a hitch. We'll get to that in a bit.

We arrived at the tournament site about forty minutes before scheduled tip-off time. Twenty minutes later the first player showed up. Others began trickling in until, just before warm-ups started, we finally got to five, enough to play. We received a phone call that our sixth girl's family was involved in car accident, so it looked like five players was all we would have, at least to start. Which would have been OK, except for that five or six minutes into the game, with the score 6-4 in favor of our opponents, Victory, Rachel got sandwiched between two Victory girls diving for a lose ball. In the process, she turned her ankle pretty severely. We helped her over to the bench, and then tried to grasp the fact that we would now have to play with four players. We went to a box defense, with Carolyn and Corinne at the posts and Hannah and Cassidy at the elbows. The girls gave up ten in the second quarter getting used to it, but in the second half they held Victory to just nine points. Melody showed up just after the fourth quarter got underway. The girls "won" the fourth quarter, outscoring Victory 4-3 as Cassidy knocked down a couple of jumpers to make the final score 25-8. Cassidy and Rachel scored four each for the Patriots scoring. Corinne led in rebounding with five, and Carolyn and Hannah each had two steals.

The boys were next up, also against Victory. We had lost to Victory by 21 last year, but essentially all the advantage was gained in the two quarters VCA played their starters. We knew we were better than last year. We found out that VCA was as well. A combination of this game being our first, not enough practice time, a fierce man-to-man three-quarter court defense by the Lions and a clueless coach all added up to an ugly first half. A very, very ugly first half. Zero for ten shooting. Twenty-one turnovers. Deadly Victory three-point and overall shooting. Few HSRC rebounds. Every aspect of the game was dominated by Victory. The result? 21-0 at the end of the first quarter. 37-0 at the half. Yikes.

Thankfully Mr. Vancina came down and asked if he could say something to the team. I said, "No way. I don't want anything to interrupt our momentum". No, wait, I remember now . I said, "Please do". He then gave the guys a couple of tips for the second half, which were helpful, and the way in which he delivered them also got the guys going. He supplied the enthusiasm that they lacked in the first half. Sam got the message, playing inspired defense and getting our first basket. He later added a three, as did Jimi. Nate also scored in the quarter and the Patriots limited the Lions to seven. With Mr. Vancina encouraging them, the guys really cranked up the pace in the fourth. The Patriots attempted fifteen shots in the quarter (they only attempted ten in the first half) and made five. They again outscored the Lions in the quarter, this time 13-12 to make the final score 56-23. Sam led in scoring with nine and Jimi added five.

Luther East was both the boys' and girls' opponents for the third place games. The girls were first, playing at 2:20, about ten minutes earlier than scheduled as the game were running early. It was an encouraging start. Corinne got her first basket and Cassidy popped in a three from the top of the key and it was 5-2, Patriots. Luther East then began to find the range from the arc, especially #30, who made two. Cassidy got another three later in the quarter but that was all we got, while LE got a couple of two-pointers and a free throw to lead 11-8. LE hit the boards hard in the second, limiting the amount of shots we took. They also continued making threes, getting three in the quarter to go with two other baskets. Hannah, Carolyn and Cassidy each made one basket in the quarter. Halftime score: 24-14, Luther East.

We changed to a 1-3-1 defense to open the second half, and that seemed to help. The offense however, seemed to disappear. None of the fourteen attempts the girls took went it. LE also had fourteen attempts, but they managed to get two to go through. One was a three, so the score at the end of three was 29-14. We limited LE to two baskets again in the fourth; this time, both were threes. It took HSRC three made baskets to equal the points - two by Cassidy and one by Hannah - and the final score was 35-20. Cassidy led in scoring with 12. Corinne had nine rebounds and Carolyn added eight. Hannah had three steals and Cassidy three blocks to lead the team in those categories.

The boys were up next. Again, the brilliant coaching was in evidence, as the guys fell behind 21-2. Justin started getting some shots to go. Jimi also made one to bring the Patriots back to a twelve-point deficit at the end of one. Andrew showed up at the end of the quarter and began to remind the guys of how to run the plays they practiced. They also began to pick up their defense on #13 who had scored eleven in the first quarter, and also played better defense on the perimeter to limit the three-point shooting. Our scoring was spread around, with Luke L, Stan, Lucas and Jimi each getting a basket. Each team got eight in the quarter, and the score at the half was 29-17.

The defense relaxed a bit in the third. #13 started to get free again and he scored seven in the quarter. His teammates got five more. Our guys' offense seemed to stagnate a little, with little ball movement. Some bad shots were also take, but even the good shots wouldn't fall. Except for Lucas, that is. He managed two baskets on only three attempts, but that was it for the team for the quarter. 41-21 Luther East after three. However, one little move toward the end of the third would prove to be big for us in the fourth. Coach Boss put Mike in and changed to a man-to-man defense. Mike's assignment was #13. #13 got no points in the fourth, due mainly to Mike's frenetic coverage. In fact, he only got two shots off. Mike ended with six steals, one of which ended up in a breakaway layup. The rest of the guys picked up the D as well. LE as a team only got off five shots in the quarter, one of which they made. The Patriots had 21 shots in the quarter, mainly because of the steals and offensive rebounds. On offense, the guys really started working the system, which produced a lot of open looks at the elbow for Justin, who scored seven in the quarter. Luke L contributed four, Lucas added a basket and Stan made a free throw. Add in Mike's layup and HSRC's total for the quarter was sixteen. Yes, the Patriots outscored LE 16-2 in the quarter, but it wasn't quite enough, and the boys dropped their second contest of the year, 43-37. Justin led in scoring with twelve and Lucas added eight. Justin and Luke L each got nine rebounds and Mike got the six steals.

It was quite an eventful day - our first games of the year, Rachel's injury, playing with four girls, the tournament experience, several players' first organized game and Coach Andrew only being there for the part of the last game. I had a lot of fun and it seemed like the players did too, despite the outcomes. It should be a fun year. Next games: girls and varsity boys at Luther East on Tuesday; girls at 5:30 and boys at 7:00. The games are being played at St. Paul Lutheran, 18100 Wentworth in Lansing, IL. Hope to see you there.

Stats from game so far this year

2010-11-20T18:19:00.000-08:00

Here are the stats for the JH game played Thursday and the elementary games played Friday and Saturday. Click on each table to zoom in.

Second place!!

2010-11-20T18:06:00.000-08:00

The elementary boys finished up the Deer Creek round robin tournament today, defeating Christian Hills 27-18. The Patriots finished 2-1 for the tournament, losing only to the hosts. This meant that the boys took second place in the tournament. Considering that these were the first games for the elementary team (maybe the only ones), the boys did very well.

We had seen both of the previous games our opponents had played in the tournament, so we could assess their level of play, which seemed to be near our own. They had lost to host team badly, but played KTA about the same as we did. Early on, that assumption seemed to be correct. Christian Hills got a quick early basket, but Matt and Devon answered with baskets of their own, plus Devon scored on a free throw. CH put on in toward the end of the quarter and it was 5-4, HSRC at the end of the first. CH scored first in the second quarter, which HSRC quickly matched. CH scored five in a row to pull ahead by four. Henry knocked down a three to get back to within one, and that is how the half ended.

The already-physical game got more so in the second. CH was still up one, 13-12, when the guys started scoring both from the floor and the free throw line. We outscored CH 6-2 the remainder of the quarter, so we entered the fourth leading 18-15. CH scored the first two in the fourth, but the Patriots matched it. Then, with about three minutes left, Devon threw up a contested three - nothing but net. CH scored one more from the free throw line, but Devon got one more basket and a pair of free throws to get the lead to nine, which is where it ended - 27-18.

The awards ceremony immediately followed. First the all-tournament team was announced. As the second place team, we were awarded two spots on the team. Mark and Devon were called out to receive the honor for HSRC. Then the team trophies were awarded. KTA got their fourth place trophy, Christian Hills got their third, and then our guys went up to get their second place trophy. The Deer Creek mascot handed it to Devon, and the guys turned toward the parents, holding it high while enjoying the cheering of family and friends.

We don't know if we will have anymore grade school games, but if we don't, the guys still had a great experience while playing well and successfully. And with a .667 winning percentage, the other teams in the program will have a tough time exceeding their success.

Next games for the program: Monday at Heritage Christian High in Dyer. Varsity girls will take the floor at 5:30 and the varsity boys will follow with a game against Heritage's JV team at 7:00. SYT.

The season is underway!

2010-11-19T21:21:00.000-08:00

The 2010-2011 basketball season has begun. So far only the junior high and elementary teams have played, but by Monday all the teams will have had their first game of the season. Unless you count the JV boys. Man, we have a lot of teams.

Quick recaps: On Thursday, we kicked things off with a junior high game against Victory Christian in Valparaiso. Starting lineup was Adam, Peter and Pedro at forwards; and Henry and Devon at guard. Victory came out in a 2-3 zone but soon went into man-to-man. Their strength was their guards, who were on our guards pretty tightly. Victory jumped out to a 5-0 lead on a three and a two by #4. Our guys got two of them back on a basket by Adam, who backed his man down and then scored on a short one under the basket. That offense was all we had in the second as well, with Adam scoring on two close ones while he and his teammates held VCA to one basket, so the Patriots trailed by one at half.

The tight defense continued in the third, and the guys started hitting the boards hard. However, the only basket out of eleven attempts was another by Adam, while VCA matched that with one of their own, but they also added a free throw. In the fourth, the Patriots finally got one from someone besides Adam, as Pedro got a basket. Adam also got one, but as in the third, VCA matched the baskets while adding a freethrow. So the first junior high game in HSRC history was in the books - a 15-12 loss to Victory Christian.

Tonight the elementary boys had two games in the Deer Creek tournament. At 5PM, they tipped off against Kankakee Trinity Academy. Henry, who is young enough to play on the team, was unable to be there due a play he was in, so there were seven boys on the team tonight - Devon, Matthew, John, David, and Mark were the starters, with Nate and Jack on the bench. Our guys did all the scoring in the first, with Devon getting a two and a three, and Matthew adding a free throw. After a KTA basket by their best player, #11, early in the second, Matthew scored a basket to put the lead back to six. The score held there until the last second, when #11 threw one up at the buzzer and it went in.

The pace slowed down in the third, but the defense did not. Matthew got another one to fall. KTA also scored one basket, so the lead was still four going into the fourth. But then Devon started feeling it. Driving and shooting from the outside, he shone in the fourth, scoring three baskets on only five shots. The Patriots held KTA to one of nine shooting in the quarter, and HSRC had its first win of the season, winning 16-8.

Game two of the evening was against Deer Creek, the host. Those who got to our first game a little early were able to witness Deer Creek's game that preceded ours, and reported that DC had a wizard for a point guard. And right off the opening tip, we saw a little blur and the score was 2-0. What was that? Oh, it was Chase Adams. Little Chase Adams, #20. Or, as my son called him, Little Allen Iverson. Chase Adams, fifth-grader. He was only about twice as tall as the ball, but he handled the ball as if it was attached to him by an elastic cord. Screamingly quick. And did I mention his outside shot? With him handling the ball, driving, shooting and dishing, it was quickly 6-0. It was more of the same in the second. Adams got another basket and it was 8-0. Then David Rohn got one to go for his first basket of the season, to the great delight of his family who were in attendance. Adams got one more and his teammate got another, and it was 12-2 at the half.

We tried to use a box-and-one on him in the second half, but we hadn't worked on it in practice, so the guys had trouble understanding where they were supposed to be. However, the intensity level of the game, and especially our guys, increased. John picked up the intensity of his game, and after a hard-won rebound, put one back up and in - 12-4, DC. Also in the third, DC started easing off the pressure at half-court on Devon, and he had some open looks from the top of the key, which he knocked down to the tune of three for four shooting, including 2-for-2 from the three-point line. His first three made it 14-7 and his next basket made it 14-9. DC scored three on a basket and a free throw, but then Devon got them back on his second three. 17-12, DC. Alas, but DC scored the last four in the quarter to push the lead back to nine. The boys did "win" the quarter, outscoring DC 10-9. Devon couldn't get the shots to fall in the fourth. Our only score was another bucket by David. The defense was better, holding DC to four points. The final score was 25-14.

Tomorrow we play for second place in the tournament against. Christian Hills at 11:00. Hope to see you there.

PS: The schedule in calendar form can be accessed by the link in the upper right hand corner. Thanks to David Vancina for putting that together.

Season preview

2010-11-13T09:19:00.000-08:00

Practices are now underway (somewhat sporadically) for the 2010-2011 season. Because of the school rules, we can't practice when the school is closed, and we can't practice when they have evening activities, so the first two weeks we couldn't practice on Thursdays in those weeks, then we couldn't practice this Thursday because of Veteran's Day. Last week several players were absent due to vacations and the national volleyball tournament in which Calumet Christian's team played.

After some fits and starts,we finally have settled on what teams we are going to have - and then it changed. A couple of weeks ago we had two teams - varsity and junior high boys. Andrew was coaching the varsity and I was going to assist him, and I was going to coach the junior high and Andrew was going to assist me. Today we have games scheduled for elementary school boys, junior high boys, junior varsity boys, varsity boys, and varsity girls. Andrew is now coaching the varsity teams, and probably the jv boys. Brian Powers, who has coached for five years and whose son is on the junior high (and now elementary) boys team, is coaching the junior high and elementary teams. I'm assisting Andrew for varsity boys, Alyssa DeBoer and Becca Dorn are assisting Andrew for varsity girls, and Clare Huizenga and I are assisting for junior high and elementary boys. Counting the younger boys just added to round out the elementary team, we now have twenty-five boys involved in the program and six girls, maybe seven.

We were invited to a elementary school tournament at Deer Creek, which is the reason why we added a couple of younger boys - boys who badly wanted to play with their older brothers - to round out our group of sixth-grade-and-under boys. Currently we don't have any other elementary games scheduled. And we added the JV team, which will likely be made up of players from both the varsity and junior high teams. This team also doesn't have a lot of games scheduled. Most of the schools we play don't have a jv team, so there aren't a lot of opponents, but there are a few.

I have the schedule listed here on the right side, as well as the rosters. We may be adding one or two more games during the year. I listed all the players' years as what they would be if the player was in school, with the September 1 birthdate.

Rundown on final soccer games

2010-10-16T08:11:00.000-07:00

The HSRC Patriots finished up their 2010 soccer season with two more losses, but the team was playing better and better as the season finished. If they had another game or two, they might have come up with a win.

On the Monday, October 4, the Patriots played Deer Creek for the second time of the season. This time was a little different, partly because the boys played a little better and partly because Deer Creek used their superstars more in supporting and passing roles rather than attacking. Even with that, however, the boys still lost convincingly, 7-1. Better than the 10-0 loss the first time, but still indicating that we have a ways to go to be competitive with the better teams that we play. On Friday, the game was against Southside Baptist in Oak Lawn. The boys played very well, but still came up short, 2-1. I was able to watch about a half hour of this one, and I could see the improvement from the early part of the year. Southside's goalie was very good, and we had trouble getting a good shot off. Henry scored the only goal of the game, and I was told that he also scored the first one of the year.

Next Thursday, October 21, is the season-ending banquet at Family of Faith Church in Monee. This will be for both the junior high soccer team and the high school flag football team. We are looking forward to seeing the teams and their families there.

Quick recap of today's games

2010-10-02T19:17:00.000-07:00

It was good to see so many parents out in the rain, wind and cold to watch their sons play today. I expecially liked the resourceful parents that created their own "skyboxes"; vans and SUVs with side doors and back gates open so the families could comfortably watch the games.

I didn't stay out for every minute of every game (my daughter was coaching in a volleyball tournament in the gym there), but I got the gist of what was going. Game 1 was HSRC team #1 versus Luther East. This game was much closer than the previous couple of weeks against LE, which was good for both teams - we had a more competitive game and they don't get completely discouraged. It looked like LE had a couple more players, so they had some to sub in. Please comment with corrections if I'm wrong, but I think the final score was two touchdowns to one - not exactly sure about the extra points.

Game 2 was HSRC team #2 against HRK Eagles. They, as usual, had a very strong team, with a gifted quarterback. I think it was two touchdowns to none, HRK at halftime. HRK got one more touchdown after halftime while the Patriots were shut out. Final score, 21-8.

I missed most of game #3, HSRC team #2 against Luther East. What I did see gave me the impression that this game wasn't as close as the other Patriots team's game against LE. I think I saw three or four HSRC touchdowns to zero for LE. Once again, if anyone has the final score, please leave a comment.

The final game was HSRC #1 versus HRK. This one wasn't as close as the #2's game vs. HRK. It was 14-6, HRK at halftime, but they broke it open in the second. The Eagles scored three touchdowns in the second half, one on a very long pass. HSRC had difficulty completing their passes, with several going off fingertips or otherwise missing just barely. Throw in a couple of interceptions, and you have a final score of 33-6.

The spirit of the games seemed to be very good, and we're thankful for that. We are trying to put together one more Saturday of games, down in Kankakee. We'll pass along info about that as we get it.

Update on football and soccer

2010-09-27T19:32:00.000-07:00

Time to get caught up on the fall sports.

The junior high soccer team has played three games since I last updated. On September 17 they played Cornerstone of South Chicago Heights. I'm hoping I get this correct, but I think the guys lost that one 1-0.

Last Friday the boys traveled to Crete to play Deer Creek. This one was not fun. From what I heard, Deer Creek played very well together and had one really, really good player. Who the Deer Creek coach left in on offense even when the lead was six, seven, eight. Apparently the goal was to beat us by ten, as their coaches were heard encouraging the team to do just that, and Deer Creek pushed hard at the end to get the two more goals. Because a win isn't enough, you know. You have to humiliate your opponent. [sarcasm off]. Thankfully our boys stayed positive and kept hustling right up to the end.

Tonight the Patriots' opponent was Illinois Lutheran's "B" team, which is made up mostly of 5th and 6th graders with two or three 7th graders, which matches up age-wise well with our guys. I was able to travel to this game, but I did miss the first few minutes, in which Steve Tijerina scored his first goal of the season. Shortly after we arrived, James Lally got one and it was 2-0, which I believe was our first two-goal lead of the year. But, alas, the Chargers scored the next two. We went ahead again; IL got one of their own. That's where it was at half, 3-3. The Patriots opened the scoring in the second half but again, IL tied it up. Again, the Patriots went ahead and again, IL tied it up. One more time the Patriots took a one goal lead, which would be their last. IL scored two in a row to make it 7-6, IL. The Patriots scored one more time to tie it up. We knew time was running out, and at this point we were hoping for a win, but a tie would be good too. It was not to be. A few minutes before the end of the game, the Chargers scored once more. The ref blew the whistle and it was over. Another loss; this one 8-7. It was a fun, clean good game and it was just too bad that the boys couldn't got the win.

It looks like the only chance now is to beat Southside, which is a recent addition to the schedule. It will take place Friday, October 8 at 2:00 PM at their campus in Oak Lawn. We do have another game against Deer Creek next Monday at 4:45.

A brief summary of the football game on Saturday: At some point during the game, we stopped keeping track of the score. Someone reported to me that we had scored nine touchdowns to none for Luther East. At least we were playing our young kids and weren't trying to run up the score. Next Saturday we have a quad with our two teams, Luther East and Gurnee. The first game is either at 9:00 or 10:30. We'll let you know.

Quick summary of the first four games

2010-09-16T20:46:00.000-07:00

The HSRC junior high soccer program is now up and running. Their first four games are under their collective belt, and the results have been, well, encouraging.

The Patriots opened up against St. Paul Lutheran of Chicago Heights on Thursday, September 9. The opponent only had ten players, so they requested that the teams play four fifteen minute quarters, to which we agreed. (Note: most junior high games consist of two thirty-minute halves. We have yet to play a game with that time configuration.) By the time I got there, the team was already up 1-0. I believe that James scored that first goal, so he will go down in history as scoring the first soccer goal in the history (which we hope will be a long one) of HSRC soccer. Shortly after I got there, #10 on St. Paul's team started finding the range. If I remember correctly, he put in two before the end of the half.

The second half was encouraging, in that the boys hustled and tried to make passes. But St. Paul had the stronger kickers, especially their goalie and the girl who played stopper, in addition to #10. There was no quit in our guys, but they couldn't quite finish when they got the ball down to St. Paul's end, and when they did get a shot, it seemed like it went right at the goalie. Meanwhile, #10 put one more in and that's the way it ended, 3-1, St. Paul. A good first game.

Saturday found the boys in Tinley Park, participating in Trinity Lutheran six-team tournament. The opening game was against the host team. I didn't witness that one. I did get the report that they lost the game, 8-0. Game #2 was against Illinois Lutheran's B team. I also didn't see that one, but the coaches reported that after falling behind 7-2, the Patriots mounted a furious rally, scoring the last four goals of the game but running out of time with the score 7-6.

I was able to witness game number three, which was supposed to be against Illinois Lutheran's A team. Mercifully, IL decided to play mostly their B team. Except their B team was really their 5th and 6th grade team, and they had some talent there as well, especially #29. IL built up a healthy lead before they moved their talented strikers to defense. The Patriots were able to score a couple late, including one from, I believe. Blake - the first this year that wasn't scored by James or Bobby. The final was 5-2, Illinois Lutheran.

So, only one blowout in the first four games. Not bad for a first-year program. Game tomorrow at Cornerstone in South Chicago Heights. If anyone wants to send me a summary, that would be great. bossfarm6@yahoo.com

Soccer and Flag Football

2010-09-03T20:32:00.000-07:00

Things are picking up at HSRC Sports once again. Flag football is now in its second year, and appears to be popular again, with nineteen young men coming to practice. They will probably be forming two teams, and will be playing Luther East, as they did last year, and possibly HRK of Gurnee, also as they did last year. One game is set, and that will probably be a combined HSRC team vs. Luther East at 10:30 AM on September 25. This game will be played at Luther East and will serve as their homecoming sports event. Dave Giuliani and Josh Zumhagen are heading up the team, as they did last year, with much help from Clarence Huizenga and Kyle Wessels.

Steve Goudzwaard is coaching a junior high soccer team, the inaugural season for this squad and HSRC's first foray into the sport of soccer. Fifteen players have been attending practice which gives us a nice number for a team. We've already got eight games on the schedule, including a tournament in which the team will play three games. I will get the schedule up soon.

We're working on basketball for the upcoming season. Anyone interested in playing, please contact Kristi at kristi.boss@fofc.org. Deadline for registering is September 17, and a $50 deposit toward the season fee of $150 is required at registration. We're hoping to have high school and junior high teams of both boys and girls this year.

Not a pleasant ending

2010-03-09T20:19:00.000-08:00

Well, that wasn't much fun.

At the state homeschool tournament last Saturday, the guys got another lesson in how far they have to go before they're competitive with the better homeschooling teams, and the girls dropped two games that were there for the taking.

First the boys. There really isn't much to say about their games, other than we lost. By a lot. Anyway, I will review the games briefly. The first game was against the Rockford Fire, rated #6 in the country for homeschool teams by the National Homeschool Basketball Tournament organization. Expectations weren't real high for the game, but after a few minutes were gone in the first and the score was 6-6, we thought, hmmmmm....maybe. Justin was getting free down low and Steve popped one in from mid-range and it didn't look like a blowout. That did not last long. By quarter end it was 18-8. #12, David Hellstrom, All-American, started establishing his domination. Twelve straight by Rockford opened the second. After another basket by Justin, twelve more straight. One more basket by Justin and Rockford closed out the half scoring four more. 46-12 at half. The second half was worse. We couldn't get anything going on offense, having difficulty getting off shots and when we did, having difficulty having the ball go through the basket. Rockford, after working it inside earlier (Hellstrom had two dunks) began to work on their three-point accuracy. Which was good. Three for four good. Many other baskets also went in, while the Patriots total output was a free throw by Justin. This was one more point than they got in the fourth. Rockford mercifully slowed down the offensive onslaught, but still managed twelve in the fourth, and the final was 82-13.

After the girls played their opening game, which I will get to later, the boys played HRK for third place. We had played earlier this year and lost 58-10. It turned out both teams were better than they were in that early-season game, so the outcome wasn't much different. It also wasn't much different than the Rockford game, except in this one our hope faded earlier. Luke L. did get a couple of nice baskets inside, but that was the sole highlights of the quarter. After scoring first with a three, HRK methodically added to their lead which grew to 22-4 by quarter end. In the second, it was Justin's turn to score all the points, which totalled three for the quarter. HRK slowed down a little with their bench in the second, but not much. HRK stretched the lead to 32 by half, 39-7. The starters were back in to start the second half, and the scoring picked up again, so though the Patriots scored nearly as many in the third (6) as they did in the first half, the lead grew to fifty by the end of the third. In the fourth, we started throwing up some outside shots which went in. Their bench wasn't quite as prolific offensively, so HRK only outscored our guys by two in the quarter. 77-25 was the final. Ouch.

Now the girls. We had high hopes going into the tournament, losing in overtime to HRK early in the season and playing Crossroads evenly after a very cold start in the one regular-season contest we had with them. We had gotten their early to watch HRK and Crossroads play each other, which was a pretty even game, with Crossroads winning by six. Apparenty they had beaten HRK earlier this year by 34, so either HRK had gotten a lot better or they just had a bad day the first game. Kara started the game on the bench because she missed some practice time because of classes. After Alyssa scored the first basket of the game, Becca, Rachel and Alyssa took turns missing. HRK got a couple of field goals and a couple of free throws in the quarter to lead 6-2. Our girls got hot to open the second, pretty much the only time they were hot for the game. Kara hit her first shot while Rachel worked hard down low to get four points and Becca got one basket. 10-6, Patriots. Then #34 began a run of scoring that continued for the rest of the game, scoring four to bring HRK into a tie at half time. The third quarter was marked by poor shooting and good defense by HSRC. The Patriots shot only two for twelve in the period, while HRK shot two for eight, but one of theirs was a three, so the Eagles led by one going into the fourth. And then the wheels fell off. We couldn't stop #34, and we couldn't get shots to go. Again we had two baskets, but in this quarter, HRK got six, plus three free throws. #34 had nine points herself. HRK scored first in the quarter and we answered with a free throw. Then HRK reeled off eight straight before we broke the string. After an HRK free throw, we got our last bucket of the game to pull with seven, but that was it. HRK scored the last four points and our hopes for a state championship were over.

We then took on Crossroads knowing that if we won by nine or more, we would get second place. Anything less, even a win by eight or less, and we would take third. To our girls credit, they came out playing very hard. The defense was intense and after a slow start, Becca and Rachel were scoring. Crossroads started out leading 5-1, but we scored the last six to lead 7-5 at the end of one. The second quarter was back and forth. Crossroads outscored HSRC 9-2 to open the quarter, but the Patriots scored the last eight while Crossroads went cold. The Patriots went into halftime with a one point lead, 15-14. The theme was carried into the third. Crossroads threw up a lot of shots and made only two. We had fewer shots but also made two. One of ours was a three by Alyssa so we went into the third quarter with a two point lead. And like in the first game, the fourth quarter was our downfall. Crossroads outscored us 11-4 in the quarter, with Rachel getting all of our four. A free throw imbalance (nine for Crossroads, two for us) and the continued inability to get the ball to go through the hoop, shooting one for ten.

And so it ends. I will have another recap of the season with stats and other stuff before I close it down for the season. I hope to see all of you at the banquet.

Learning experience

2010-03-03T20:23:00.000-08:00

Some of you who followed the other blog about Calumet volleyball know that I don't post right away after tough losses. So here it is, four days after the Lafayette Invitational homeschool tournament and I'm finally blogging about it.

Not that the losses were tough in the sense that we might have won. These were just humbling losses, showing us how far we have to go yet to be competitive with the better homeschool teams in the region.

Friday night was the opener, against tenth-seeded Wabash (we were the twelfth seed), a homeschool team from Terre Haute. I wasn't there, but I was following as best as I could on the internet. (The info bulletins sent out by the organizers noted two places where the scores were supposed to be posted. They weren't in either of the those two places, but I finally found that at least periodic updates were posted on the host team's website.) I was encouraged when I saw that were were only down fourteen at half, 29-15. A while later I got a call from Andrew that the second half did not go well. Apparently we had trouble holding on to the ball, and Wabash got a million fast break points in the second half. Well, a lot anyway. Wabash scored 52 points in the second, and the Patriots scored 24, making the final 81-39. One bright spot was that Justin had his best game of the season, and arguably the best anyone on the team has had. He shot ten of eighteen from the field, three of six from the line, with seven rebounds and four steals.

Saturday morning's first game was against Anderson, the ninth seed. The guys had seen a little of them the night before, and were surprised to see the team that showed up Saturday. At least four of the players that were there Saturday were not there Friday. Andrew, talking to some people connected with another program, found out that Anderson and at least one other team at the tournament were not exclusively homeschoolers. Apparently these new players were in school Friday and couldn't make it in time for the games that night. So any scouting that was done was kind of worthless. Anderson had a couple of talented players, especially one big guy with a very nice touch around the basket. They didn't figure out that they should feed him until the second half; in the meantime, HSRC stayed relative close. Anderson played good one-on-one defense, especially on the perimeter, but had a tendency to lose guys down low. We exploited that somewhat in the first half, and were only done twelve at the half, 33-21. In the second, Anderson kept feeding the ball to the big guy underneath. He was very strong, and as earlier noted, had a nice touch. They kept this up for the third and part of the fourth. Our offense was a little less effective. Anderson outscored our guys 41-19 in the second for a final of 74-40.

Which brings us to the final game of the tournament for us. Noblesville, the eighth seed. They didn't look that great in warmups. They weren't very tall. They had lost two games like us, albeit against higher seeds. But we were going into the game without Steve, which turned out to be a problem. We could have used another ballhandler, as Noblesville turned out to be a team of pickpockets. We could not stand in one place dribbling for more than a second before a Noblesville player would steal it. If we did get it into the frontcourt, we couldn't hit a shot. So that was the story of the first quarter. Noblesville would steal the ball and run it in for a layup. Occasionally we would get off a shot, but mostly it was turnover after turnover. HSRC ended up with thirteen turnovers in the quarter. The score at the end of one was 31-2, Noblesville. The second quarter saw Noblesville playing their bench the whole quarter, but they were nearly as good at being ball thieves as the first string. Their offense was not the same, so they only scored eight while giving us only one basket. The first string was back in for the third, but they backed off on the pressure. This kept their score down and gave us some breathing room. We worked it inside for a couple of baskets by Justin and one by Luke L, while only giving up thrirteen. The same pattern occurred in the fourth, but with Noblesville bench players on the floor. Our scoring was spread around, including a basket by Peter, his second of the season. Each team scored nine in the quarter resulting in the 61-19 loss. As noted earlier, however, Justin was named to the all-tournament team.

Here are the cumulative stats for the tournament:

On Saturday we have the state tournament. The boys start things off against Rockford at 11:15. The girls follow at 12:30 against HRK of Gurnee. Then the boys will likely follow at 1:45 in the third-place game (Rockford is the sixth-ranked homeschool team in the country), and the girls will finish against Crossroads at 3:00. Then no more HSRC sports until next year, and no more high school sports for my kids.

Congratulations to Justin Vander Ploeg!

2010-02-28T06:27:00.000-08:00

The team didn't do so well this weekend, but Justin Vander Ploeg was named to the all-tournament team!. Here's the link: http://www.hustl.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=241&Itemid=3. He averaged 15.3ppg on 46% shooting, 9.7 rebounds and 2.3 steals for the tournament. Way to go, Justin!
I'll have more later.

An undefeated week

2010-02-20T07:18:00.000-08:00

The teams played their last regular season games this week, and both came up with victories. The girls played Calumet Christian on Thursday, and came away with a solid 38-17 victory, while the somewhat depleted boys team traveled out to Channahon on Friday and defeated Families of Faith Christian Academy, 40-29.

The girls had played Calumet early in the season and had easily defeated the first-year team, 30-12. We expected them to be better for this game, as it was Calumet's second game the first time we played, and from what we heard. If you recall my post from the first game, there's a lot of connections between the two teams, so we knew something of what was going on with them. On the other hand, they also knew about us, that we were on a nice streak. So there were few secrets between us.

The game was played at the Jean Shepherd Center in Hammond. It's a big fieldhouse, so there was a lot going on there when we arrived. It seems a volleyball club team was having practice on the near courts, so we walked down to the end, where the Calumet boys were playing the Portage Christian team. That game was a nail-biter, with Calumet winning by a slim margin. The Portage parents were quite, umm, intense, as they were when our girls played them. Hmmm. Anyway, our game. The girls came out pretty flat defensively, although the shooting was pretty good. Five girls scored, and the team shot 50% for the quarter. On the other end of the court, the girls were giving up a lot of offensive rebounds. Thankfully, Calumet didn't shoot real well, and the Patriots did get a few steals. HSRC was up 7-6 but scored the last five points of the quarter to go up 12-6. The girls didn't not show much life to begin the second quarter. However, with the score 14-10, they again went on little five-point streak. The girls extended their zone defense to pick up the ball handler at half-court, and this seemed to fluster Calumet. The half ended with the Patriots leading 19-10.

That defense continued into the third quarter. Calumet was having a hard time getting off shots, and the ones they did were not going in. Meanwhile, the girls' offense was picking up. Rachel was working hard to get shots inside, and it paid off with nine points. Kara got a couple of baskets and Alyssa hit an outside shot. HSRC outscored Calumet 15-2 in the quarter to effectively put the game out of reach. Rachel and Alyssa each got a bucket to open the fourth. The girls maintained that lead until about midway through the quarter, when the bench was emptied. The junior high girls played pretty good defense, but their offense isn't nearly as far along. Calumet scored only five after that, but our bench had trouble hanging onto the ball, and didn't score any.

Rachel led in scoring with thirteen; Kara had nine, Alyssa eight, Becca and Lee had three and Carolyn had two. Rachel led in rebounding with six (it was not a good rebounding night). Alyssa had five assists and Kara added four. Kara had five steals, Becca four, and Alyssa had three. Now we have a long stretch without any games until the state tournament the first weekend of March.

We had a little information about Families of Faith. From looking at a couple scores of games they had with common opponents, we felt we had a good chance against them. The start of the the game did nothing to refute that idea. Our guys jumped out to an early 7-0 lead, as the Patriots hit three of their first four shots, one being a three by Luke D. FOFCA cranked up their defense at this point, and the shots were more contested. FOFCA got a couple of baskets and a free throw, matched only by a HSRC free throw. Yes, free throws. A common occurrence in this game. Halfway through the first quarter, I commented that there might not be anyone left to finish the game, as frequently as the fouls were called. It was quite a contrast to most of the games we've played this year, especially the girls, where rugby scrums were going on and nothing was called. This game was a little too far toward the other end of the spectrum. FOFCA ended up with seven FT attempts in the quarter but only made one. HSRC had two foul shots and made one (Luke L). Dustin finished the scoring in the quarter with bucket that made it 10-5. Our shooting went south in the second quarter, with the guys only making one out of ten. Dustin got the one early in the quarter to put the Patriots up by seven, but the guys only got one more in the quarter, a FT by Luke D. They had seven attempts from the line, but the shooting from there was as bad as the shooting from the floor. The defense was decent, however, as the Patriots limited FOFCA to only five shots. Two were successful, so FOFCA outscored the Patriots 4-3 in the quarter to make it a four-point game at half, 13-9.

The second half started out with some defensive breakdowns by HSRC; however, the guys started figuring out how to break down the defense of FOFCA. Dustin scored on drives and short jumpers and Justin started figuring out where the soft spots were near the basket. FOFCA outscored HSRC at about the midpoint of the quarter, 7-6, when the guys picked up the defense. FOFCA did not score the remainder of the quarter, while the Patriots scored the last eight to go up by eleven going into the fourth. Justin worked for three straight baskets underneath to open the fourth, while FOFCA was held to two during that stretch to give HSRC a fifteen-point lead. The teams exchanged some baskets and freethrows during the middle part of the quarter, with FOFCA scoring five and HSRC three on a free throw by Luke D and a basket by Dustin. Luke L had fouled out by this time, and several players on both teams were close. We thought maybe the refs (ref singular; the other ref called very little) would back off in the second half. This was not the case. FOFCA then put on little run, pulling to within seven, as the Patriots relaxed a bit on defense. The Patriots woke up a little at that point, and Dustin knocked down four straight free throws to complete the scoring. Final foul tallies: twenty on FOFCA, seventeen on HSRC (in a not particularly physical game). Three players fouled out and two more had four at game's end.

Dustin set a new boys' scoring high and a high for both programs (boys and girls) for the season, with twenty in the game. This matches the high-point total all-time for the program, as Kara had twenty in a game last year. He also pulled down thirteen rebounds. Justin scored twelve, all in the second half, and had twelve boards. Luke D scored five, Jimi had two and Luke L one to go with his six rebounds. Jimi and Justin each had two steals.

No more regular season games for the guys. The Lafayette tournament is next weekend, with our first game against Wabash at 5:30 CST. Note the time: Lafayette is in the Eastern time zone, so the times listed on the information from the tournament hosts are EST. The first game on Saturday will be either 8:45 or 9:00, depending on the outcome of the Friday game.

Maxpreps stats

2010-02-13T18:32:00.000-08:00

Stats for the games our teams have played against varsity teams are on our Maxpreps site:
http://www.maxpreps.com/high-schools/mQsalrhegEKVaKhMZoFE_g/homeschool-resource-center-patriots/home.htm

The guys have played eight varsity games and all but one of the girls games (Illinois Lutheran) have been varsity.

A bit late

2010-02-13T18:22:00.000-08:00

Sorry, folks, things are a little busy in the Boss household, so I haven't had much of a chance to do any updates. Well, here you go.

Thursday was the second trip HSRC made to Valparaiso to play Victory Christian. This time we took both teams. The girls started off the evening with a 6:00 tipoff. The first contest against Victory resulted in a 40-24 HSRC win. In that game, Coach Boss was trying some new offenses and defenses, so the girls got off to a slow start, trailing by two after one quarter, but then pulled away for an easy victory. Tonight was quite different. The girls have their offenses and defenses pretty settled, and have been playing quite well lately (see the six-game winning streak). Rachel got it going inside early, Alyssa hit a three and Kara got a break-away layup.Oh yes, the break away layup. Victory started out in a full-court man-to-man press. Which our girls had absolutely no problem breaking. This resulted in a lot of two-on-one and three-on-two situations. This continued throughout the game and Victory was never really effective with it. On the other end of the court, the girls 1-2-2 defense was suffocating. Put it all together and the Patriots led 15-2 at the end of one quarter. Victory was a little better with their press in the second. Rachel continued her effective down low play and Kara knocked down a three. Victory made three baskets in the quarter, but the Patriots still outscored them with eight and it was 23-8 at half. Rachel thirteen of the points herself.

The third quarter was like the first. Becca scored off a rebound, Rachel went to the lines several times and made two to go with another basket and Kara knocked down an outside shot. Because the refs were calling very little, the game got more and more physical. All this did was fire up our girls to play even more intense defense. This resulted in Victory shooting 0-for-8 in the quarter, and the lead going into the fourth was 31-8. I'm not sure anymore, but I think we got the first basket in the quarter, on a nice short jumper by Carolyn. Then Victory started getting things going a little, scoring two baskets, so with the lead at about twenty-one and about three minutes to go when Coach Boss cleared the bench. Victory apparently didn't realize the game was essentially over, and continued their full court press. Of course this was a little more effective against our junior high girls, and Victory scored a few consecutive baskets before Kara and Alyssa went back in to settle down the ball handling. Ashley Wessels was able to score her sixth basket of the season, and time finally ran out with the score HSRC 35, Victory 21. And again, thankfully no one got hurt.

Rachel was player of the game with seventeen points and twelve rebounds. Kara had nine points, four rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block. Becca had a basket to go with six rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block. Alyssa scored one three and added three rebounds, three assists and a steal. Carolyn and Ashley W. each scored two. Lee, while not scoring, had eight rebounds and three steals.

The boys game started in a promising wasy, with Luke L getting free for a layup off the tip. After a couple of Victory baskets, Justin scored inside to tie it up. The the roof caved in. Victory's two big guys got it going both inside and out. #33 scored on all three shots he took in the quarter. Fifteen straight were scored by Victory to end the quarter. Victory scored one from the free throw line to open the second. Jimi was fouled going to the basket and made one of two, which was followed by another inside basket by Justin. After another Victory basket, Jimi knocked down his second three of the year, and the guys were within twelve. Alas, the good feelings didn't last long. Victory, substituting in waves, scored the last seven point in the half to lead 29-10 going into the break.

Victory had their starters back in to start the third, and quickly stretched the lead. Justin got one basket in the middle of the flurry of Victory points, but Victory had pulled out to a twenty-five point lead before the bench players started coming in. Dustin got a basket and Justin a free throw before the quarter ended, to trim the lead to "only" 22 at the end of three. In the fourth, Victory started out with their top subs, but a short time later the end-of-the-bench players were in. Justin (7 points in the quarter) and Luke L(2) got open underneath for some baskets, and Luke D made his only basket of the game. Our guys "won" the last quarter 11-10, but the final overall was Victory 47, HSRC 26.

Justin led in scoring with fourteen to which he added six rebounds and a steal. Luke L and Jimi each had four points, and Dustin and Luke D each had two. Dustin led the team in rebounding with nine, and he also had two steals. Steve didn't score (he sat out the second half after being run out of bounds in the first half), but he did have three steals and three assists. Jimi had five rebounds, two steals and two blocks. Luke D had four steals.

Last week of regular season games is coming up (unless the girls can get another game with Luther East). Girls are playing Calumet on Thursday (see the calendar and an earlier post for time and location), and the guys are playing Families of Faith Academy in Channahon 5:30 on Friday. Come out and cheer on the teams.

Ho hum, another two win night

2010-02-09T18:05:00.000-08:00

If it were only that routine.

Tonight the Patriots went back down to Kankakee, this time to take on Kankakee Trinity Academy. Last year the girls came very close to getting their second win against KTA, and their record wasn't good this year. Since the Patriots have improved so much since last year, we had high hopes of extending the winning streak to six.

And when the Patriots jumped out to a 6-0 lead, it looked like that streak extension was in the bank. Even against KTA's aggresive man-to-man defense, the girls' offense was clicking. KTA broke the streak with a free throw, but HSRC got that one plus one back on another basket. Rachel, working hard down low, was fouled while shooting and make one, and it was an eight-point lead. KTA scored a basket, then Kara finished the quarter scoring with a breakaway layup to give the Patriots an 11-5 lead after one. KTA started the second working the ball into their tall girl, #22 and she was able to make a free throw and then she and #11, the other taller girl, made couple of short ones and it was a one-point game. But then Rachel got one down low, Kara scored off of another breakaway, and Alyssa hit a couple from the outside. Rachel got another down low on a beautiful post move and the lead was eleven. KTA finally stopped the run, but Alyssa scored to finish the half and return the lead to eleven, 23-12.

KTA (#11) got the first basket of the third, and our girls started a little cold. Finally Kara got one to fall, which was followed by baskets by Becca and Rachel. KTA finished the scoring in the quarter with a basket by their point guard, but the lead was thirteen going into the fourth. Carolyn started the scoring in the fourth, making one of two free throws. Becca and Kara got baskets, the Lee got her first of the game. The defense, as it had been most of the game, was active and suffocating. When Coach Boss cleared the bench with a little more than two minutes left, KTA had not scored in the quarter. Then the younger girls picked right up where the starters left off, playing active defense and not allowing a basket. The offense didn't quite match the defense, so there was no more scoring, resulting in the final score of 36-16.

Scoring was quite balanced in this game. Kara had ten, Rachel nine, Becca eight, Alyssa six, Lee two and Carolyn had one. Rachel had nine rebounds and Becca added eight. Kara led with four assists and and Alyssa had three. Those two were also the top stealers, Kara having nine and Alyssa six. Skywalker Lee got the only block for the Partriots.

The boys game immediately followed. KTA's JV team was the opponent this evening. The Patriots started out a little tentatively, and KTA's offense was very deliberate. The result was few shots and little scoring. KTA's JV is a pretty short team, so when the guys were able to work it inside, it started paying off. Justin got two baskets and Dustin one in the quarter, and the Eagles were held to only one basket in the quarter. Things started flowing a little better in the second. After #44 hit a nice three to bring KTA to within one, the 2-3 defense got a little more active, with the top two playing right on the ball handlers and getting in #44's face so he didn't have any more open looks. The offense, sparked by nice passing by Steve and Dustin and good inside work by Justin and Jimi, really came to life. The Patriots ran off thirteen straight points to go up fourteen at 19-5. KTA scored the last two field goals in the half, including one at the buzzer to pull back to within ten at halftime.

Both teams played pretty good on the offensive side in the third. Luke L worked very hard down low and scored three straight buckets at one stretch for the Patriots, besides two free throws. Steve made his first basket in the quarter and Justin scored again inside. #30 from KTA started heating up, however and he scored seven in the quarter. #44 got free once in the quarter and made our guys pay with another three. Add in one free throw and KTA nearly matched the Patriots for scoring in the quarter, scoring eleven to HSRC's twelve. The Patriots started off very strong in the fourth. Justin scored inside, Dustin threw in a three and Steve made another one while KTA only got one basket in that period. Justin scored four more on a basket and two free throws, and the lead was twenty. KTA scored the last four points of the game to make the final 42-26, the second win of the season for the guys, and a very nice performance overall.

Justin scored seventeen to lead all scorers. Luke L had eight, Jimi six, Dustin five, Steve four and Luke D two. Dustin had eight rebounds to lead the team in that category and Justin added seven. Steve had seven assists, team high for the season, while Dustin added four. Luke L and Steve had four steals apiece and Luke D had three. Justin had two blocks and Jimi one.

Thursday we play Victory again; this time both teams will be playing. Victory has a decent guys team, so it will be fun to see if the Patriots can carry over some momentum from the KTA victory into this game. The girls have already beaten the Lions once, so I hope they aren't overconfident. The girls game starts at 6:00 PM and the boys at 7:30. Details are in the calendar at the bottom of the page, and I believe an email was sent out with the particulars. Season is winding down; don't miss a chance at seeing the teams in action.

February 18 girls game

2010-02-06T12:45:00.000-08:00

The girls' game against Calumet Christian on February 18 will be played at the Jean Shepherd Center in Hammond. If you put this into Google maps, you will get the wrong address. The Center is just east of Kennedy Avenue, just north of the Borman Expressway (80-94). The address is 3031 JF Mahoney Drive, Hammond, IN. JF Mahoney drive looks like a frontage road. It's right next to the expressway.

Five in a row for the girls

2010-02-06T12:30:00.000-08:00

Last night we returned to Oak Lawn to play Southside Baptist, the girls for the second time this season, the boys for the first time. The first time the girls' teams met, the game was pretty even until the fourth quarter, when the Patriots erupted for twelve in the last eight minutes while holding the Torchpersons (I love being politically correct) to a single free throw to win by eight. For those who weren't at either game, the Southside gym is tiny; not quite as tiny as Brentwood's but pretty small. My estimate is that the court is about 75'x38' compared to the high school standard of 84'x50', so the court has about 2/3rds the square footage it's supposed to have. So the game is a bit different than usual. There's usually a lot of turnovers because the passing lanes are so clogged, and it's easier to play a zone defense. That's how it was the first time, and that's how it was last night. But the game was not as close, as Southside was missing their tall center, and the Patriots handled them easily, 36-23.

HSRC gave an indication that they were going to dominate early on, as they were making their shots when they had them. They turned the ball over a lot, but so did Southside. Alyssa, Kara and Rachel each made outside shots to give our girls a 6-0 lead. That didn't last long as Southside scored the next six to tie it up. Kara picked up her second basket, but that was matched by Southside before the quarter end, so it was 8-8 after one. Rachel opened the second with a layup, which was followed by a score by Becca on a feed from Rachel. The new play put in by Coach Boss was getting the girls some open looks from the elbow. On the other end of the court, the girls were playing a tough 1-1-3 defense, which they started out in, but they need to run it a bit before they got comfortable with it. Since Southside tried to work the ball down low most times, this was a very effective defense. Becca then made one on a pass from Alyssa, Southside scored their only basket of the quarter, then HSRC completed a nice press break with a pass to an open Becca who made the shot to put HSRC up 16-10 and to finish the scoring for the half.

The Patriots opened the second half scoring on a steal and fast break score by Alyssa. After Southside scored on a nice pass underneath, HSRC scored the next six on baskets from Rachel, Kara on a drive to the basket and then Rachel again, this time on a put back after her own miss. Southside got another basket before Rachel powered one in. Then on a layup off of a turnover, Southside scored the last basket of the quarter, but the Patriots still led by 10 going in to the fourth, 26-16. HSRC opened the fourth on fire. They hit on five of their first six shots in the quarter. Alyssa opened the scoring on a jumper off of a fast break. Rachel followed with strong down-low work. Kara scored a layup off of a fast break triggered by a Lee steal. Southside broke the string with a bucket, but then Kara finished the Patriots scoring with two more baskets. By that time the lead was eighteen, and the benches were cleared. Southside ended up scoring the last five points to make it a thirteen-point game.

Leading scorers were Kara and Rachel with twelve each; they shot 12 for 23 between them. Becca and Alyssa scored six each. Rachel had game honors in rebounding with twelve. Kara had four assists; Alyssa and Rachel had three apiece. Becca led with seven steals (the Patriots had thirty steals as a team) and Rachel had three blocks.

The guys didn't play Southside earlier; this was their first game against them. The only common opponents we had with them were Crossroads (SS beat them) and Romeoville (SS lost), so we weren't sure how we would match up. It didn't take long to find out 1) they were better than us and 2) their play is tailored to their gym. They covered that little gym well with their defense, rebounded very well and released a player (#35) down every time we shot the ball. We were slow in getting back and they had a lot of uncontested layups. They also pressed, since the gym was so small it wasn't as taxing as it would have been on a regulation court, so they could keep it up throughout the game even though they didn't sub much. We racked up a lot of turnovers early, and before you knew it, it was 18-2. At that point, Justin started getting it going underneath, and he finished the quarter with six. HSRC pulled back to within 22-10 by the end of the quarter. Neither team could score to begin the second. The Patriots defense was better, but they couldn't maintain the offensive momentum from the end of the first. About the middle of the quarter, Southside started working it inside to their two big players, #33 and #55, who scored fourteen between them in the quarter. HSRC could never get their offense going in the quarter; however, there was one significant offensive highlight; Peter got his first basket. He took the pass and smoothly put up about fifteen-footer that was nothing-but-net. Unfortunately, the Patriots only got one other basket in the quarter and trailed at halftime 42-14.

Southside began the second as they did the game, by getting it to #35, who hit all four of his shots. We continued to have trouble holding on to the ball, and pretty soon it was a forty point lead for Southside. They then began to clear the bench. Luke L. scored three, Justin made a shot, and Teddy got a free throw, but the lead was still 38 at the end of three. Southside played no starters in the fourth and called off their press. To their credit, our guys didn't let up, and played well in the fourth. The defense was smothering, and the offense was effective. Dustin had seven, Justin had five, Luke D had four, Jimi two and Luke L one to give the Patriots their highest-scoring quarter of the year, 20 points. They shut out Southside's bench so the final was a respectable 58-40.

Dustin led in scoring with fourteen, and added eight rebounds and five assists. Justin had eleven points, eight rebounds and three steals. Luke L, Jimi and Dustin each had two blocks. HSRC actually shot the ball pretty well, 31%, but the turnovers and inability to stop Southside were tough to overcome.

Monday we take on Kankakee Trinity, girls at 6:00 and the boys at 7:15. We play them at 150 N. Indiana Ave, Kankakee, which I believe is some sort of community center. The girls were the closest to getting their second win last year against Trinity, losing by three after leading most of the game, so hopefully the result will be different this year. Hope to see all of you there.

Girls' stats

2010-02-02T18:24:00.000-08:00

Oh, yeah, I forgot one

2010-02-02T18:20:00.000-08:00

Since it doesn't really count, I kinda forgot about the game the girls had last Saturday against New Jerusalem up in Batavia. A lot of the teams we play, play New Jerusalem, but we really didn't know too much about them. We do know that they're pretty good, and that it's a church team, not a school team. They heard about us and wanted to play us, but the game didn't come together until the game we just got with Trinity of Roselle fell apart and the Trinity people arranged this game to replace it. Regardless of all this, we traveled all the way to Batavia to play them, and it was a good game. They said that they were missing some players, as we were, so maybe it wasn't like it would have been had we both been fully represented. Anyway, the game started out as if it might be a 0-0 tie. Both teams played solid defense and the offenses appeared to be feeling out the opponent, and the score was 2-2 at the end of the quarter. Then the girls started getting a better feel for the game. NJ was a little more comfortable, making shots inside and outside. NJ outscored the Patriots 14-11 in the quarter to lead at half by three. #10 was throwing up shots like no other opponent we played, but not a lot were going in. In the meantime, #3 was much more efficient with her shots, but Coach Boss had noticed her skill and had gone to a box-and-one on her. She finished with eleven points on thirteen shots, while #10 had eighteen points, but took thirty-three shots to get it.

NJ outscored the HSRC by two in the third to lead by five. NJ started out the fourth on fire. #'s 3 and 10 were making their shots, while our girls stared out cold. I believe NJ stretched out the lead to eleven, 34-23, before the Patriots made one final run but ran out of time before they could catch them. Final: 34-29. Overall, a good, entertaining game. We may add them to the schedule in future years.

Rachel led in scoring with ten. Becca added eight, Alyssa five, Kara four and Carolyn two. Carolyn and Rachel led with eight rebounds each and Becca had six. Kara had six assists and Becca added four steals.

Boys stats

2010-02-02T17:50:00.000-08:00

So close to the second sweep of the year

2010-02-02T17:45:00.000-08:00

Last night both teams played the Grace Baptist Crusaders' teams down in Kankakee. Both games were nail-biters. The girls edged their Grace counterparts 34-32, while the boys' rally fell just short, as they lost 39-36.

The girls didn't play Grace their first year, but last year they played one time, with Grace winning 44-25. That Grace team had two six-foot girls, and they killed us by the guards throwing it in to the tall girls who shot over our helplessly flailing girls. Grace shot over 40% in that game. However, we knew that one of the girls had left the school (well, I knew it because Kara's volleyball team had played them this fall). Grace doesn't post their scores anywhere, but some of their opponents do, and we found out from that that Grace wasn't real strong this year. So of course the girls fell behind quickly, 7-2. Then the girls found their stride. After a couple of misses, Rachel made three shots in a row, Kara got a basket and Becca made two free throws. HSRC scored ten straight to close the quarter and led by five. The streak continued in the second. Becca and Rachel each scored inside and the lead was nine. Then Grace went on a 6-2 run when they got the ball with just a few seconds left in the half. They ran a nice play and scored as time ran out in the quarter to pull within three, 18-15.

Grace continued their run into the third, scoring the first two baskets to got back on top, 19-18. Then Kara, who had eleven steals on the game, made a couple of baskets off of steals, while Becca scored a couple and Rachel one down low. This was despite the intense pressure defense Grace played in the quarter Grace got a couple of baskets during the stretch, but the Patriots led 28-23 at the end of three quarters. In the fourth, Grace's defense got even more intense. Some might say too intense. Our defense cranked up a little as well in the quarter. According to some, it was too intense. Unfortunately the refs were among the "some". Grace started making free throws as our fouls began to mount. On the other side of the court, the Patriots were not faring well. Because of the frenetic defense Grace was playing, our shots were not falling. The game was tied when the fouls began to even out. Now our girls began to make some hay at the line. Rachel had all seven of her free throw attempts in the quarter and knocked down four. She also made a basket to account for all the points scored by HSRC in the quarter. Our defense was effective, and the girls escaped with the two-point victory.

Rachel had a big game, with sixteen points, eight rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block. Becca and Kara had eight points each, with Alyssa scoring two. Lee didn't score, but did get three rebounds and five steals.

The boys game was a little different. There weren't as many momentum changes, but there were a couple of dramatic ones. The guys started out in a man-to-man defense, but had difficulty keeping up with the quick Crusader players. Also, Grace was good at making cuts off screens and driving to the basket. Very quickly it was 7-0 Grace. Finally Luke D. got free for an open attempt and buried it. Grace continued their effective offense however, and even though Luke got another one from the outside and Jimi made a nice shot, Grace extended their lead to 15-6 by quarter's end. The Patriots switched to a 2-3 zone in the second, and it seemed to work well. Also, Steve came in after a bit and sparked the offense with his passing. Jimi scored inside and outside, Luke D. hit another jumper and Justin got a layup. On the defensive side, after allowing Grace to shoot 40% in the first, the guys held Grace to one basket on thirteen attempts in the second. Grace did score two from the line, but that was it for them in the quarter, and HSRC pulled to within five at half, 19-14.

The third quarter opened up with a beautiful pass from Steve to Luke L., who finished it nicely. Luke L. also made two free throws while Justin made an inside shot and Steve hit one outside. Grace scored four points during this run, so it was a one-point game. But then Luke L. got into foul trouble and had to sit down. Grace started a run with a three-pointer, and then moved inside and got fouled several times. The Crusaders ended up scoring the last eight points of the quarter and moved out to a 31-22 lead by the end of the third. I don't recall exactly the ebbs and flows of the fourth, but I do remember that the guys opened up hot and narrowed the lead. Then Grace grabbed the momentum back, and I think led 39-32 with a minute or two left. The defense then became very effective. The Patriots had pulled to within three when they got the ball back with just a few seconds left. They crossed half-court with two seconds to go and called time. But the guys couldn't get a shot off, and they lost the heart-breaker.

Scoring for the Patriots was very balanced. Justin and Luke D. each had eight, Jimi and Steve had six and Luke L. and Dustin had four each. Justin had ten rebounds, Dustin had eight, Steve had six and Luke L. had 5. Steve had six assists and two steals; Dustin had four steals, three assists and a block; Jimi had three steals and one big block; Luke L. had two steals; and Justin had three steals and three blocks.

Scrimmage against Parkview on Thursday at Balmoral for the boys, then practice for boys and girls to follow. On Friday, both the boys and girls will play Southside in Oak Lawn, girls at 4:30 and boys at 6. See you there.

Streak now at three

2010-01-30T11:41:00.000-08:00

Last night the Lady Patriots traveled to the site of their only victory of last year, Victory Christian's gym in Valparaiso, IN and continued their winning streak, defeating the Lions 40-24. The winning streak continued as well as the streak of games in which, at times, it looked like a rugby scrum. In this case, however, it wasn't so much the opponent as it was both teams, as the refs called ticky-tack stuff on the perimeter but permitted mayhem underneath. Both teams got pretty aggressive fighting for the ball later in the game, and since nothing was called, it didn't stop.

Victory began the game in a passive 2-3 defense, but the Patriots couldn't take advantage of it as their shooting woes resurfaced. They shot only three of twenty in the quarter, but two of the three made were threes. On the other side of the court, the Patriots opened in a half-court trapping defense, which they didn't execute well. Victory's one skilled player got open drives to the basket regularly in the period, and she took advantage, making two of three from the floor. Twice she was fouled on those drives and she sank all four free throws. Victory scored one other basket in the quarter and led after one, 10-8. HSRC opened the second in the same defense, and the fouls began to mount. The coaches changed the defense part way through the quarter, limiting the pressure to only Victory's one good player and falling back into a 2-3. Victory then got frustrated on offense, as they couldn't solve the zone, and #4 was taken out the game. After an even start to the quarter, HSRC gradually pulled away behind some good inside play by Becca (four points) and Rachel (five) and couple of shots by Kara. Victory was shut down after an early basket and a couple of free throws and only scored four in the quarter, so the Patriots led 21-14 at the half.

Both teams opened with more intense defense in the second half. However, Kara and Alyssa got open for outside shots, Kara making a three and Alyssa a two to increase the lead to twelve. Kara then made a layup off of a steal to make it a 28-14 game before Victory make a free throw to break the string. Kara then was fouled on a breakaway and split the free throws before Victory scored their only basket of the quarter. The quarter ended with the Patriots leading 29-17. The fourth quarter belonged to Becca, as she make a couple of nice shots on put-backs. Foul counts were starting to add up on the rest of the players (four players finished with four fouls), so the defense was more passive, and v. Kara and Alyssa each made their only attempts in the fourth, while Becca finished with seven in the quarter. The lead got as high as eighteen at 40-22, before Victory scored the final bucket.

Kara led in scoring with seventeen with Becca adding eleven. Rachel led in rebounding with nine; Alyssa was the assist leader with four. Kara had five steals and Lee had four. The team shot 30.9% for the game, which was their third-highest on the season. The most interesting and impressive stat was that the Patriot only had eight turnovers; their previous low on the season was fifteen.

Today we travel to World Overcomers Church in Bartlett, IL to play New Jerusalem at 4:45PM. From what we understand, NJ is a church team, made up of players who do not play for the schools they attend. We have played some common opponents, and from that we figure we will need to play very well to beat them. We shall see.

Game added to schedule

2010-01-23T08:47:00.000-08:00

We have been invited to play a team (girls) from Trinity Lutheran in Roselle next Saturday at 4:45PM. It's not an official school team, but they have played Crossroads and HRK-Gurnee. We will be playing at MEDINAH BAPTIST – 900 Foster Avenue, Medinah, Illinois. Directions are: Go West on I-290 to exit # 7, U.S. Route 20 (Lake Street) Merge Westbound towards Bloomingdale and proceed about one mile to Medinah Road. Go North (right) on to Foster Avenue (about one mile) Turn West (left) about ½ mile to the gym. The Church, school, and gym are on the North side of the street. Parking on the East side.

Three in two

2010-01-21T20:58:00.000-08:00

Once again the HSRC basketball program squeezed three games into two days, as both teams played Illinois Lutheran on Wednesday and the girls played Hinsdale Adventist Academy tonight.

Last year the girls lost a tough game to IL's JV team 22-17. The girls have been winning a lot of the games that were close losses last year, so they thought they might have a good chance in this one. And that's the way the game started. The girls played their usual tough defense, holding IL to one basket in the quarter. IL was not shy about putting it up - the one that went in was one of fourteen they attempted. Even though IL played good defense too, Kara put in a three to go with Becca's two baskets to give HSRC a 7-2 lead at the end of one. In the second, IL tightened up their defense even more. HSRC was limited to one basket by Kara and a free throw by Alyssa. The Patriots repeated their defensive performance of the first quarter in the second. IL put up seventeen shots in the quarter, but only made one. 10-4 Patriots at half.

The third quarter saw even fiercer defense by IL, holding the Patriots to one point, a free throw by Becca. IL started shooting a little better too, scoring three baskets to pull them to within one at the end of three, 11-10.
HSRC finally started to figure out how to get the ball inside to Rachel in the fourth. She scored four points to go with a pair of clutch free throws by Kara and one by Becca. Meanwhile, number 23 got some shots to fall herself, scoring four. Another teammate made a field goal, and another added a free throw. The two teams were even for the quarter at six each. The Patriots held off IL at the end of the game after IL's last basket pulled them to within one, hanging on for an 18-17 victory. IL looked kind of like us last year and a little this year, as they launched every open shot they got inside of twenty-two feet, and didn't make too many. Kara led in scoring with seven, Becca had six, Rachel four and Alyssa one. Becca had eleven rebounds and seven block, six in the first quarter. Alyssa had three assists and Kara got seven steals.

The boys faced a very skilled IL JV team next. As the game played out, we found that they were deadly shooters and aggressive defenders. We also found out that we need some remedial work on free throws. We shot poorly when we did shoot, while IL shot nearly fifty percent from the field, and exactly fifty percent from the arc (6 for 12). They also made eight of thirteen from the line. The Patriots gave new meaning to the term "foul" line, as they shot three for eighteen, just a hair better than they shot from the field (5 for 32). It was only an eighteen-point game at the half, and while the IL coach did substitute liberally in the second half, apparently he forgot to tell his team that throwing up threes and full-court pressing with a large second-half lead isn't real good sportsmanship. Of course, if we made some free throws it wouldn't have been so bad, but as it was, the guys were outscored 30-7 in the second half for a 54-13 loss. Justin led in scoring with four. Jimi added three and Luke L, Steve, and Dustin had two each. Justin seven rebounds and Steve had three steals.

Tonight's game was against a team that blew us out twice last year, Hinsdale Adventist Academy. Thankfully they graduated a couple of their players. Our girls are also better than last year, so we were curious to see how the teams matched up. It didn't take long to see that the teams were much more evenly matched this year. Both teams played solid defense. HAA scored the first bucket, but Kara knocked down a middle-range jumper to tie it up. HAA got one from the line, then the teams started exchanging baskets. Alyssa got two baskets in the quarter and the Patriots led, 6-5. The second quarter was similar. Kara got a basket from the outside and two on steals and layups. Becca got a shot to fall. On the HAA side, #33 made a nice three and #13 made two inside. The Patriots added one more to the lead and the score at the half was 14-12.

HAA scored the first basket in the third. Then Kara was successful on a three and Rachel made a short one, and the lead was five. #33 got free on the outside again though, and made another nice three. HAA got one more before the quarter was over and it was tied at 19 at the end of the third. Lee made a three to start the fourth; she has many that were close earlier in the game, but didn't go down. Becca made a free throw to push the lead to four, but after a couple of free throws and a field goal by #15, it was tied. The girls got the ball back with thirty seconds, and after an attempt by Alyssa, they got the offensive rebound and called timeout with 3.6 seconds left. Kara's shot out the timeout was blocked, and the girls headed to their second overtime of the season. HSRC scored first, but HAA tied it up with two free throws. After a couple of missed shots on both sides, Lee got fouled. HAA had ten fouls, so HSRC was in the double bonus - two free throw attempts. Lee was only three for seventeen from the line this year. First attempt - right through. Second attempt - spun around and around and down. Two point lead. The Patriots got it back soon via turnover. Then Kara was fouled. She knocked down both for a four-point lead. HAA missed a shot, got it back, then turned it over. HSRC dribbled out the clock for the victory, 29-25.

Scoring was as follows: Kara - 15, Lee - 5, Alyssa - 4, Becca - 3, Rachel - 2. Rachel had nine rebounds, Kara had three assists, and Kara and Lee each had four steals. The girls are now 7-6 on the season.

The boys now have a long break until their next game, against Grace on Monday, February 1. The varsity girls will play next Friday (January 29) against Victory in Valparaiso. Next Monday, the junior high girls will play a scrimmage against Glenwood School for Boys and Girls at Balmoral (Wow, sort of a home game) at 6:30.

LaThugiere

2010-01-16T20:12:00.000-08:00

To think that our Chief Justice, John Roberts, is an alumnus.

Today the Lady Patriots got beat and beat up by LaLumiere, a school in LaPorte, Indiana, in the fifth-place game of the Grace Lady Crusader Tournament. LaLumiere touts itself as "seek[ing] to develop character, scholarship, and faith, while remaining both independently accredited and faithful to its Catholic heritage". I guess, by "Catholic heritage", they mean the Spanish Inquisition. They must define character as whining, complaining, shoving when the ref isn't looking, pressing with a twenty-point lead, believing tackling is an integral part of girls' basketball and laughing when when of their players throws an opponent to the floor. And then denying all of it when confronted. Thankfully none of our girls were injured (nor lost their temper) in the 40-19 loss.

Oh, yes, game details. Lal did play very good defense. They also had a very active point guard, who could handle the ball very well. She wasn't a great shooter, but was so aggressive going to the basket that she was fouled quite a bit. She scored four in the first quarter and while she had four free throw attempts, she missed them all. Her teammates scored six for Lal's quarter total of ten. Meanwhile our girls were either turning the ball over or missing shots. Lal's defense was strong, but our shooting and decision making was lacking. The Patriots ended up shooting one for eight in the quarter with eight turnovers. The girls' defense tightened up in the second a little. They also took care of the ball a little better, but their shooting remained very cold. They were one for thirteen in second, giving them two consecutive quarters of two points scored in each. The score at the half: Lal 18, HSRC 4.

The pace of the game picked up in the third. We also finally scored more than two. The Patriots scored two field goals and picked up three free throws. Ashley W. scored her fifth consecutive field goal without a miss in the quarter, and then broke her streak with a miss later in the quarter. On the other side of the court, Lal was shooting at will. They had twenty-three field goal attempts to go with six free throw tries. Only four of each were successful, as the Patriots played pretty solid defense for the quarter. Lal played the bench a lot in the fourth, but were still able to score ten when they weren't blocking and tackling. HSRC shot a lot in the fourth, with twenty attempts. Alas, only three were successful, but Alyssa did get two free throws. After the final buzzer, some of our parents expressed their sentiments to the Lal coaching staff, who didn't take it well.

Kara led in scoring with twelve, Alyssa had four, Ashley W. had two and Rachel had one. Becca led with ten rebounds and Rachel added nine. Kara had six steals.

So we finished sixth in our first regular-season tournament in our history. If the tournament was seeded accurately, we might have finished fourth or fifth. Still, all-in-all, it was a good experience for the girls and for the program.

I would like anyone who desires to comment here regarding participation by Christians in sports, and more specifically, Christian girls. What is the purpose? How should Christian comport themselves on the court or the field (or in the stands)? Should girls sports be different than boys? You have an idea about my opinions on some of this. What do you think?

Quick update

2010-01-15T21:13:00.000-08:00

Just a quick update between games of the girls tournament at Grace Baptist in Kankakee:

On Thursday both teams traveled to Romeoville; the girls for their first game against the Kingsmen (Kingswomen? Queenswomen?) and the boys' second. First up was the girls. This is Romeoville's first season as a high school team; they are primarily playing a JV schedule. Most of their girls are junior high age. This was quite evident in the game. By the end of the third quarter it was 30-4. It could have been more, as the girls were working on a new play and it took a while to get it down. It could have been less, since the starters stayed in that long to work on that play. The final was 34-7. Kara led in scoring with ten, while Rachel had eight and Becca six. Becca had nine rebounds, Kara had nine steals and Lee had five assists.

The boys game had a little different flavor than the first time we played Romeoville. Romeoville kept their starters in longer this game and played a little tougher defense. The Kingsmen also went harder on offense; in other words, they seemed to take us more seriously this time. The result of this hard play was a twenty-point lead at the half. In the second, Romeoville relaxed a bit, and the Patriots picked up their game. Steve B. was put in for the second half, and while he had trouble getting shots to go down, he seemed to settle down the offense. The overall defense was much better in the second half as well, even with Luke Lorenz fouling out rather early. HSRC played even with Romeoville in the half, with each team scoring sixteen points. Leading scorer was Dustin with eleven. Justin was right behind with ten. Justin also had seven rebounds and six steals. Dustin added six rebounds.

Tonight the girls played their first round game of the Grace tournament. The tournament was seeded, but since not enough information was provided by the participants, the seeding was quite off. LaLumiere and Tri-Point are probably the two best teams. LaLumiere was seeded close to correct at two, but Tri-Point was seeded seven. Westlake, the one seed, should probably have been seeded sixth or seventh. Heritage, our opponent tonight, was definitely top three, but they were seeded four, and since we were seeded five, we got to play them first. We had played them earlier this year, and lost by eleven. Tonight the defenses were much tougher - both ours and theirs. Not so much ours at first. It was 11-0 at the end of one quarter. Heritage made five of eleven shots. Their talented and tall junior center, Danielle Zandstra, was shooting and dishing. Our girls had a hard time with their man-to-man defense. The new plays that the team just learned started clicking in the second. While Heritage added seven more, HSRC scored eight. Ironically, even though Heritage was much taller, we got our points inside. Rachel had six and Becca had two in the quarter. In the second half, our defense really got tough. Heritage went seven for seventeen in the first half; in the second, they were four for twenty-four. However, our offense just couldn't do anything in the second themselves. The Patriots scored a total of six in the half to Heritage's nine, for a final of 27-14.

Becca scored all of the second-half points to give her a total of eight for the game. Rachel got the rest of the points. Rachel had ten rebounds and Becca had nine. Alyssa had six steals and Kara had three assists.

Tomorrow we will play LaLumiere for fifth place at 10:00 AM. Lalumiere is a tough, talented team, so it should be quite a challenge. Hope to see you there.

Maxpreps

2010-01-12T20:06:00.000-08:00

Here's a link to our info on Maxpreps, a clearinghouse for high school sports run by CBS Sports:

http://www.maxpreps.com/high-schools/mQsalrhegEKVaKhMZoFE_g/homeschool-resource-center-patriots/home.htm

I have been updating our info here, including our stats. You'll notice that not all the boys' games are not listed; Maxpreps only wants varsity games listed, so I listed those that I thought were varsity.

Season stats

2010-01-09T18:55:00.000-08:00

Brentwood stats

2010-01-09T18:24:00.000-08:00

Two wins!

2010-01-09T15:38:00.000-08:00

The boys and girls traveled up to Des Plaines last night to play Brentwood Baptist Christian School's boys and girls teams, and the results were two wins and experience gained for the bench players, especially the girls. The girls were victorious by the score of 49-33 and the boys got their first win of the year, 47-32.

After walking down the seemingly endless hallway, we got to the door to the gym. We didn't think that it was the gym. We thought maybe it was a large conference room. However, there was a scoreboard on the wall. Maybe they kept score of their meetings. No, that wasn't the case. It was the gym. A dark, worn, small, low ceilinged gym. Even smaller than Southside's. So playing at the Southside gym was good preparation for these games.

The only info we had on Brentwood's girls team was that they had played Gurnee and lost by 38. Since our girls had lost to Gurnee in overtime, we had an idea that we should be able to handle Brentwood. Our idea was correct. Once again, the game started out with one team scoring a lot of points, and the other team scoring none. But in this case it was HSRC scoring all the points. 14, to be exact, before Brentwood got on the scoreboard by free throw. Brentwood had one player, #12, about 5'7", who was taller and more talented than the rest of her team. She was throwing up shots from all over, including half-court, which in the case of this gym was about 26 feet from the basket. Her ninth shot, a three, was the first to go in, shortly before the end of the quarter. By this time, Coach Boss has started substituting. Ashley W. came in first. In the second, the substitutes played extensively. And the Brentwood star kept shooting. And missing. Her teammate made a couple of baskets and #12 made three free throws. However, Alyssa made three shots to go with a basket by Lee and one by, drum roll please, Ashley W., her first basket of the year. So the Patriots outscored Brentwood 10-7 in the quarter to lead 26-11 at the half.

The starting lineup returned for the third quarter, but not for long. HSRC pulled out to a twenty-something point lead, and so the subs started coming back in. Brentwood's shooter did get a couple of threes to goin in the quarter to go with a two and free throw, but HSRC was not missing in the early part of the quarter. They finished shooting eight for fifteen for the quarter, and the score at the end of three was 40-20. Becca, Kara and Alyssa started on the bench, and Carolyn and Lee soon joined them. Ashley VP was the point guard, Emma at the other guard, with Hannah, Rachel and Ashley W down low. Very valuable experience was gained, as were a lot of turnovers. Lee made a three before she went to the bench and Rachel made the only shot she took in the quarter. And shortly after the quarter started, Hannah made a shot, her first points of the year. Ashley W tacked on another basket to finish the Patriots scoring for the quarter. Meanwhile. The Launcher was making some shots. She ended up with ten for the quarter and twenty-five for the game. Her teammates scored three in the quarter and eight for the game.

Stat summary: Lee led in scoring with thirteen, Alyssa had ten, and Becca, Kara and Carolyn had six. Carolyn led in rebounding with eight. Alyssa had nine steals and Kara had six. Becca led with three assists.

On to the boys. We saw that Brentwood did not have much height. We found out they were pretty quick, pretty quickly, as Brentwood got the first points of the game on a drive along the baseline for a layup. At the other end of the court, HSRC's offense appeared to be, throw up a shot and have Luke L. get the put back. Three times this worked early, and on the third one Luke got fouled and made the free throw. Back to Brentwood's end of the court. HSRC started out in a man-to-man, but Brentwood was very quick and were beating our guys one-to-one. Luke L. had trouble keeping up with his guy and got called for two very early fouls Thankfully one of the Brentwood players that was good at beating our guy was not good at finishing. Justin was working hard underneath and got a couple of short ones. Dustin made a couple of mid-range jumpers and Luke D. made one. Luke picked up his third foul in the quarter and he had to sit, so Adam got some playing time. The score at the end of one was 19-13.

With Luke out, the Patriots had trouble getting offense going. They also had trouble stopping Brentwood. The one who had trouble finishing in the first started making them in the second, shooting four for eight, but the rest of the team went cold, shooting one for twelve. On offense, the Patriots shot three for sixteen, with Justin, Teddy, and Dustin each getting a basket. Halftime score: 25-25. We think. The Brentwood scoreboard apparently was using another numbering system.

Luke was back in the third, and the Patriots went to a zone defense, so he wasn't as likely to pick up fouls. But the defense was noticeably tighter. HSRC only allowed four points in the quarter. On offense, five different Patriots scored: Luke L., Teddy, Luke D. and Justin with two each and Dustin with four. The fourth quarter mirrored the third, except that Justin (6) and Dustin (4) did all the scoring. Brentwood was limited to one shot made out of thirteen attempted, a three pointer. We think the score was 37-29 at the end of the quarter.

Because of the frenetic nature of the game, and the low shooting percentages, especially by Brentwood, there were a lot of rebounds. Three Patriots had fourteen or more rebounds: Justin (17), Luke L. (16) and Dustin (14). Dustin and Justin led in scoring with fourteen each. Luke L. added eleven, Teddy and Luke D. four each. Dustin had four assists and Justin had three. Dustin had three steals and two blocks, while Luke L. added two steals and one block.

Romeoville next week Thursday. Boys get a chance for a rematch against the team that beat them 38-16 in December. Girls will get their first look at Romeoville's girls, who have just started a high school team. On Friday and Saturday, the girls will play in the Grace Baptist tournament. Opponents and times are not known yet as a seventh team was recently added and it will now be a double elimination tournament instead of pool play and single elimination. I will post as soon as I hear. We have also added a January 25 junior high scrimmage against Glenwood School for Boys and Girls at 6:30 at Balmoral School, and a February 5 boys game against Southside (following the already-scheduled girls game).

Back to it

2010-01-05T20:19:00.000-08:00

We had a flurry of games the last two days - both the boys and girls played Crossroads on Monday, a home school group from the far western suburbs, and the girls played Southside Baptist, a school in Oak Lawn tonight.

The girls had played Crossroads the last two years. The first year we had a program, we played both their JV team and their varsity team. We beat their JV team (which they don't have this year) by 4 and lost to their varsity by 24. Last year we only played their varsity who beat us 48-20. The two quarters their starters played the score was 37-4. We knew we were better, but didn't have any idea about how Crossroads was - who graduated, who left, who they brought up.

So the game started, and it looked like it was going to be a continuation of last year. Before we were settled into our well-cushioned folding chairs, it was 9-0, Crossroads. Finally Lee hit a three, and our defense tightened up a bit. Crossroads scored no more in the quarter, so the Patriots were down by six after one. I the second, the Patriots really cranked up the defense. They only allowed seven field goal attempts, of which the Crusaders made two, the last one just before the halftime buzzer, which was a little discouraging. Meanwhile, we were flinging it up pretty regularly. Problem was that we also only made two. We made two free throws (out of seven attempts) while Crossroads got one (out of six). The reason for all the free throws was that...actual reach-in fouls were called! And the calls were pretty balanced! What a concept! For an entire half! Halftime score: 14-9, Crossroads.

So what happens to open the third? Four straight free throws by Crossroads, all of which they made. They had three more unsuccessful attempts the remainder of the quarter. They were only one for eight from the field in the quarter, but that was enough, because our girls' shooting woes continued. We were one for eleven in the quarter, and since the reffing became more like what we were used to, we only had two free throw attempts. Neither went in. To be fair to the refs, our girls were sluggish in the second half, so too much defense was being played with their arms rather than the feet. However, most of the borderline calls were going Crossroads' way. The Patriots trailed 20-11 at the end of three. Our shooting didn't get any better in the fourth, though we did get a lot of attempts. The Patriots were two of fourteen of the quarter, scoring only those four points. Crossroads got three more free throws in the fourth, but didn't make any. They also got two field goals, so the final was 24-15.

Rachel led in scoring with five; Kara and Lee had three while Alyssa and Becca had two each. Becca led (as usual) in rebounding with fourteen and Rachel added eight. Kara had nine steals but ten turnovers. She also had four assists. Rachel and Becca had two blocks apiece.

Now, on to the boys. We were playing Crossroads' JV team, but as is the case with many of these small organizations, there was some overlap of varsity and JV. Apparently the boys were taking notes from the girls on how to start the game, because very quickly they were losing 14-0. The Patriots finally figured out how to get the ball inside to Justin, and Justin figured out how to get the short shot to go down. He got four while Crossroads scored one more basket, which made the score 16-4 after one. Six of Crossroads' points were by #44, who was a big strong inside player. Seven were by #40, their point guard. Quite a combo. The second quarter was similar to the first, at least in the score. The difference was that Crossoads started going to the line. A lot. They had eleven attempts in the quarter, making seven, while we made one of the two we were able to take. Justin got one and Dustin got his first basket of the game in the quarter, but Crossroads got five baskets in the quarter to go with their free throws, giving them seventeen for the quarter, and giving them a 33-9 lead at the half.

And then something happened. I'm not sure what. I'm still trying to figure it out. The guys shot six of nine in the third quarter. They made both of their free throws. The Patriots held the Crusaders to one of fourteen shooting. Yes, you read that right. I didn't get it backwards. Luke Lorenz got things going underneath. Justin continued his close-in work. And Steve Bianchi, making his season debut, dropped in a three. Crazy as it sounds, the guys outscored Crossroads 15-3 in the quarter to pull within twelve, to make it a game. The fourth quarter started with both teams missing a lot. We seemed to have lost the offensive magic, but the defensive intensity remained. The gap remained about the same until midway through the quarter, when it was 43-30. Crossroads started to pull away at that point, scoring the last eight points of the game to make the final 51-30. All in all, the guys' best game of the year. (And imagine how well we would have done if we played five at a time the whole game ;-). )

Justin was the player of the game, with seventeen points, fourteen rebounds and four steals. Luke Lorenz chipped in with six points and seven rebounds, to go with three blocks and a steal. Luke Dorn had three steals. Dustin made two shots from the field and Steve got four assists and two steals to go with his one three-ball.

Next game for the girls was Southside, which they played earlier this evening. This was a back-and-forth affair through the first three quarters. This was an interesting game, in that it was played in Southside's tiny gym. The court is at least ten feet narrower than regulation and ten feet shorter. The narrow court precluded the Patriots from running their plays well, which rely on spacing. It also made playing defense easier, with less ground to cover. This resulted in a lot of turnovers. I don't know how many Southside had through three, but we did have twenty-three steals. We also had twenty-five turnovers at that point, though. Because of the small court/smothering defense, and perhaps because of the shooting slump we've had the last few games, we didn't shoot well also. After leading after one by one, 9-8, the girls relinquished the lead in the second, and went into the half trailing 16-15. Southside's little point guard got things going for them in the third, while our girls made a little hay from the free throw line in the quarter (three made). But Southside outscored the Patriots 9-7 in the quarter to take a three point lead going into the fourth.

The fourth quarter for the girls almost matched the third quarter of the boys' game from the night before. Our shooting percentage wasn't that good, six for nineteen, but much better than it had been, and much better than Southside's - zero for thirteen. Kara and Alyssa were hitting outside and Becca inside. Southside's entire offensive output in the quarter was one free throw. They got that after we had scored the first ten points on the quarter. The girls scored one more basket to top off a 34-26 victory.

Rachel, who scored all of her points in the first three quarters, led in scoring with eleven. Rest of the scoring was Kara with nine, Becca with eight, Alyssa with four and Lee with two. Team shooting (25.9%) was better than last night, but that's not saying much. There were a lot of turnovers in relation to shots attempted, so steals were big while rebounds were lower than usual. Becca and Rachel had six rebounds each; Lee and Alyssa, five. Kara led with seven steals with Becca right behind with six. Kara had six assists. Lee, of all people, shared blocking honors with Rachel with two each.

Girls at 6 and guys at 7:30 on Friday against Brentwood. Again, check the map and calendar at the bottom of the page for details. Thanks to all those following the team and cheering them on. Please come out on Friday to support your teams.

Boys' stats from last Friday

2009-12-23T21:45:00.000-08:00

Here are the stats from the Portage boys game:

A win should be more fun

2009-12-18T21:19:00.000-08:00

Tonight we traveled to the Courts of Northwest Indiana (some even traveled there directly ;-)) to play the Portage Christian School JV boys team and varsity girls. The tone was set for the evening when some of our parents and players arrived and found Portage's boys leaving. They had just played a varsity game and someone forgot to tell them they had a JV game. Thankfully they were able to keep the players there that hadn't left and got some others to come back. Since some of the players were varsity players, we're going to consider this game a varsity one. Next there was the problem of warm-up time arriving before most of our players. People, read your emails! Anyway, the team had all arrived by 5, and the game got started at 5:15.

I'm going to guess their point guard is their varsity point guard. Number 11 was quick, could handle the ball and could shoot. Number 15 was quite good as well, playing down low. The first quarter saw 11 get things going with a drive to the basket right off the tip. They then played strong defense, harassing our ball handlers and causing eight turnovers while only allowing us to take four shots. Meanwhile Portage was getting points both inside and outside. Score at the end of one was 11-2, Portage.

Our guys started holding on to the ball a little better in the second, committing only six turnovers. They also crashed the boards harder, getting eleven in the quarter. And they got off more shots. Twelve to be exact. Three went in. Luke Dorn, Dustin and Justin each got a basket off of rebounds. Portage also made three field goals, but one was a three. They had just as many attempts as the first quarter, but our defense was a little more active. Score at half was Portage, 18-8.

In the third, Number 15 ("Woody") started muscling in shots underneath. He scored eight of their thirteen on three of five field goals and two free throws. They also cranked up the defense. They didn't cause our guys to turn it over much, but we couldn't get many open shots. Luke D. popped in a three for the Patriots' only points in the quarter. Six other shots went awry. So now Portage led by twenty going into the fourth quarter, 31-11.

Stanley found his shot just in time for the fourth quarter. He made a couple from the corner and another from the field and only missed two. Justin got another one. Portage had a hard time hitting shots in the quarter, so the Patriots had the satisfaction of "winning" the quarter, 8-7. Final score: 38-19, Portage. Justin and Stanley finished with six points each, while Luke D. had five and Dustin had a basket. Luke L. once again led with fourteen rebounds while Justin had ten. The quarter was an encouragement to the team, as the offense started clicking. Hopefully they can use this to build on for the future. The Portage coaches came over and were very encouraging to our guys. Quite a contrast to the girls' game.

We played Portage last year and led most of the game, but Portage caught and passed us and won by five. We knew that one of their tall girls graduated and with our improvement, we felt we could win this one. But the way the girls shot in the first quarter, they weren't going to beat anyone. Twelve shots went up and a total of one went in. Portage was flinging it up even more than HSRC, and got two to fall to go with a free throw. Hmmm, a free throw. We didn't get many of those this game. More on that later. After one it was 5-2, Portage.

The Patriots scored the first six points in the second to lead by three. After a basket exchange, HSRC got another one and led by five. During this stretch, the Portage coach started getting agitated, complaining a lot about calls and noncalls. Meanwhile, Portage went to the line again. Free throw count to this point: Portage 4, HSRC 0. Foul calls at the half: HSRC 3, Portage 0. Team playing aggressively on defense: Portage. Not exactly sure what the problem was. Portage made one of the two free throws to pull within four at the half, 12-8.

In the third, the Patriots continued the pattern they started in the second. Portage was playing a box-and-one, where they play a square zone with four of their players and the fifth played man-to-man against Kara. Because of this, HSRC had begun to work it inside in the second, resulting in Becca and Rachel scoring six of the team's ten. In the third, Becca hit a couple of nice ten-footers from the baseline, and she and Rachel scored all of the teams' points. On the other end of the court, the defense was decent, not great, but held Portage to six. All this time, Portage's coach kept up the haranguing of the refs. I don't have the foul count for the quarter, but I do know that Portage got two more free throws and HSRC got none. Anyway, we went into the fourth quarter leading 20-14.

The fourth quarter began with some misses on both sides, but the Portage coach thought that there were fouls against his players that weren't being called. He got more and more upset, and after the refs asked him to stop complaining, they finally had enough and called a technical on the coach. Becca was sent to the line to take them. She missed the first, and as she took the second, one of their players yelled, which I believe demonstrated a lack of sportmanship. After this, an assistant coach took up the role of ref baiter. The ref explained that he had to sit down, that after a technical no coaches were allowed to stand. He told the coach that three times. The coach did not sit dow. Technical #2. Becca again went to the line. While she was shooting, the bench players started cheering to distract her. More poor sportsmanship. The coach then substituted his entire starting team out. The starters sat on the bench and cheered derisively the rest of the game. I believe some of the Portage parent joined in as well. While all this was going on, HSRC cranked up the defense. The shooting cooled off, however, so the Patriots only scored six in the quarter. When Coach Boss cleared the bench, the lead was ten. Portage scored one more basket to make the final 26-18.

Final foul tally: HSRC 9, Portage 7. Final non-technical free throw count: Portage 8, HSRC 1. After further poor sportsmanship in comments from the Portage players in the post-game handshakes, it was finally over. Kind of a miserable win.

Anyway, the numbers. Becca had ten points, Rachel six, Kara and Lee four and Alyssa had two. Becca also had fourteen rebounds, three steals and a block, Kara had six steals, three assists and a block, Alyssa had three steals and three assists, and Rachel had ten rebounds. The team shot 12 of 47 from the field and had 36 rebounds.

Now a long Christmas break. Hopefully we can get some gym time between the holidays to keep the skills sharp. Next games are both boys and girls at Crossroads. Watch your emails very closely for the location. Also, practice next Monday is at Crete Reformed Church, on exchange just west of 394. We will also send out an email. Look for it. Don't forget. Don't go to Balmoral School. Just don't. Crete Reformed. Girls at 5 and boys at 7. Not at Balmoral. ;-)

Girls' cumulative stats

2009-12-16T21:12:00.001-08:00

Boys' cumulative stats

2009-12-16T20:39:00.000-08:00

Click on the picture to zoom

Boys' box score from last night

2009-12-16T20:09:00.000-08:00

Click on the boxscore so you can see it all

A little better every time out

2009-12-16T18:14:00.000-08:00

Last night the guys went up against Romeoville Christian. We thought we were playing their JV, but today I see their score listed in the IACS website as a varsity game. So we'll count it as that. A little aside: We got there just after the second half started in the junior high game that preceded ours. After a couple of minutes I remembered the coach of the team opposing Romeoville: the crazed screamer from Landmark. We remember him from two years ago when our girls played a partial junior high schedule and we had the privilege (ahem) of playing his girls' team twice. He is wrapped just a little too tightly. He was pressing with his starters with a big lead at the end of the game the second time we played him, I recall. I'm glad my kids didn't have to play for him, but he is entertaining to watch. Anyway, back to the boys.

Starters tonight were Stanley, Luke D., Jimi, Luke L. and Justin. Romeoville had some tall players in their starting lineup, including their star, Dmitri Beaubrun, who played point guard. The game started out as they usually do, with both teams a little tentative as they got a feel for each other's play. Beaubrun concentrated on defense and passing, and got his forwards some good opportunities for shots. Meanwhile, the Patriots ran their offense fairly well and got several open shots, which did not cooperate by actually falling through the hoop. Because Romeoville was getting inside better than were were, Beaubrun was hounding Stanley throughout the quarter, and our shots wouldn't go down, the score at the end of one was 13-3. Dustin had the only basket in the quarter and Stanley added a free throw.

Romeoville substitued freely in the second quarter, and our guys started getting the ball to drop. After going 1 for 13 in the first, the Patriots made 3 of 11 in the second, with Dustin, Justin and Stanley each getting a field goal. HSRC slowed the Kingsmen a little this quarter and they got ten which gave us a half-time score of 23-9. A remarkable stat at this point was that the Patriots already had 26 rebounds, many of them offensive as so many of our shots wouldn't fall.

The third quarter was a good quarter, even though the score was similar to the second. The Patriots played this one mainly against Romeoville's first string. The guys started getting the ball to Justin down low, and he made it work. He scored all of HSRC's points in the quarter with five. Our outside shots continued to be problematic. Romeoville had ten in the quarter, most of them from Beaubrun. The score was 33-14 at the end of three quarters.

The fourth was a kind of sloppy. Romeoville mostly played their bench players, who played with a lot of energy but not much skill. Our guys seemed a little tired. None of the outside shots would fall. The only score in quarter by the Patriots was an inside shot by Justin. Romeoville only got five themselves, leading to the final score of 38-16.

The Patriots shot only 7 for 53 in the game, with thirty-two turnovers. Scoring for the Patriots was as follows: Justin with nine, Dustin with four and Stanley with three. Luke L. had sixteen rebounds (team high for the season) while Justin had fourteen. Luke L. also had four steals while Luke D. had three and Dustin had two. Jimi once again led in blocks with two, and one of them was quite authoritative.

Portage is up next. I think the guys have a chance to at least be in this game. It's as the Courts of Northwest Indiana in Valparaiso. Guys at 5, girls at 6:30. See you there.

Girl's box score from Saturday's game

2009-12-13T13:59:00.000-08:00

Here's the box score from Saturday's girls' game. I will try to get the boxes for the boys up soon.

Short synopsis of a long day

2009-12-12T20:52:00.000-08:00

The Patriots traveled to Gurnee today for two boys games and one girls against the HRK Eagles. After a long drive, several cars, vans and SUVs loaded with parents and players arrived over a period of a half hour or so. After warm-ups, the boys game against the Eagles' JV game began. The guys stayed close for a while in the first quarter, even scoring the first basket (Justin). But HRK began pulling away late in the first to a 9-2 lead at the end of one. The second quarter saw HRK getting points from the free throw line - five of their ten for the quarter. The Patriots got a basket from Justin and one from Jimi for their offense for the quarter, so the Patriots were down thirteen at the half. The third quarter was the most competitive. Justin got two baskets, one inside and one outside and Luke Lorenz made a free throw. They held HRK to only seven in the quarter. HSRC finally got to the free throw line regularly in the fourth. Seven of the nine points were scored via foul shot, five by Justin. However, the defense broke down, giving up eighteen. Final score was 44-20. This was the highwater mark for scoring so far this year. Justin had thirteen points and eleven rebounds, while Luke Lorenz had fourteen rebounds.

The girls game followed immediately afterwards. HRK blew us out last year 52-16 in the first round of the state tournament. They graduated many of their players, however, and we had improved. And we were better tonight, except that they girls were really cold from the floor. They shot and shot and shot, but very few went in. Becca made a couple of shots early but after that, it was like pulling teeth to get a basket. HSRC led 5-2 at the end of one and 9-6 at the half. HRK found the basket in the third, while the Patriots continued to struggle. HRK outscored our girls 10-5 in the period to lead by two. HRK got the first three in the fourth quarter to take a five point lead, but then Kara finally started to hit. A three and a two after some nice passes tied the game up. Kara got another basket to put HSRC ahead, but then HRK tied it up. The Patriots had the ball with four seconds to go, and got it down to Rachel for a ten-footer, but it wouldn't go down. Overtime. HRK had implemented a box and one defense to shut down Kara and it worked. She didn't get a shot in overtime and the rest of the girls couldn't get one to fall. HRK got three free throws and a basket in the period to win 26-21. Becca had six points, fifteen rebounds and eight steals. Kara had seven points and nine steals.

HRK's varsity boys were up next for our guys. After losing by 24 to the JV, we were all pretty resigned to a blowout. And that's what we got, though the boys played with a lot of heart and energy and didn't embarrass themselves. I won't go into detail, except to say that the score of their first-stringers against ours was 42-8. The final, after HRK put in their JV and Coach Boss emptied the bench was 58-10. It was a learning experience. The important thing was that we continue to see improvement in the boys from game to game.

Next game is boys only on Tuesday at Romeoville Christian. On Friday, we travel to Portage Christian. Watch your email for details.

A little better

2009-12-11T22:01:00.000-08:00

Tonight's performance by the guys was a little better than the first two games, but not good enough to get a win. The Patriots traveled back to Lincoln Center in Highland, Indiana tonight for a boys' JV game. It was closer than the first two games, but HSRC still went down to defeat, 29-14.

The defensive effort through the game was solid, but though HSRC made them work, Calumet was a patient team and worked the ball around until they had a decent shot. Our offense however was, well, offensive. The Patriots were shut out in the first quarter while Calumet scored nine. To be fair, Coach Boss shook up the lineup a little, starting Dustin at guard. It was evident at first that the guys were having a little trouble getting used to the new lineup.

The second quarter found the Patriots crashing the boards, getting some steals, making it difficult for Calumet to get off a good shot, and a little better shooting. Luke got an inside basket and was fouled, but missed the free throw. Dustin got a little jumper to go, and Justin finally was able to muscle on in. Justin also made a free throw to complete the scoring for HSRC. The guys limited Calumet to six in the quarter, so the lead was trimmed from nine at the end of one to eight at the half, 15-7. Interesting stat of the quarter was that HSRC got off eleven shots while Calumet threw up only five.

The guys had a hard time hanging on to the ball in the third. After only making five turnovers in the first half, they had six in the third. Justin was also having a tough time to get the inside shots to drop. He did get one to go it late in the quarter, but it was only after Calumet has scored ten. Justin's points were the only ones that HSRC got in the quarter. The eight-point lead of the host team was doubled to sixteen at the end of three, 25-9.

Ballhandling woes continued into the fourth. Defense returned to the second-quarter level, though, so Calumet was limited to two baskets in the quarter. HSRC matched that, with Justin making an inside shot and Stanley popping in a three from the baselin. Those four baskets were all the scoring in the quarter, so HSRC outscored Calumet 5-4 in the quarter to make the final 29-14.

Ballhandling and shooting continue to be our Achilles' heal. Added to that tonight was Justin's difficult time shooting. HSRC ended up with 18 turnovers and shot only 6 for 37 from the field. Justin led in scoring with seven, and in rebounding with seven. Stanley had three points and five steals, Dustin with two as well as Luke Lorenz.

Tomorrow we face HRK of Gurnee in three games: JV, girls, and the V boys. First game starts at 3:30. Hope to see you there.

I'm a sexist

2009-12-07T19:22:00.001-08:00

Yes, you read that correctly. I'm a sexist. I have this crazy belief that girls' sports should be played differently, and for that matter officiated differently, than boys' sports. As I've watched girls basketball over the last two plus seasons, I fear that I am in a minority. A shrinking minority.
Tonight was Exhibit A. Or I should say H or so. A through G occurred over the last couple of years.

Tonights opponent was Luther East. Many of you are familiar with them from the flag football season. Many of you are also familiar with their point guard, who was their sometime quarterback. Well, she plays basketball like a football player. A lot of blasting through the line, shedding tacklers, gaining the extra yard. Except this is basketball. Anyway, back to the game. We played a good game with them last year, losing 57-45. We knew that we are better, so we hoped for a different outcome this year.

The game started like we remembered from last year. Luther East played a tight zone and we threw up outside shots over it. A lot of shots. Eighteen in the first quarter, to be exact. Four of them went in, and two were threes. On the defensive end, our girls played good defense, only allowing one basket and two free throws. Oh, free throws. I'll get back to that later. We finished the quarter leading 10-4.

Luther East changed up their defense in the second quarter. They pressured the ball and the Patriots were not ready for it. Luther East scored the first six points of the quarter to tie it up. Coach Boss made some adjustments at this point, and the Patriots slowly regained control. Kara made a shot, then followed it up with two threes. After a basket by Luther East to make it 18-12, Alyssa got a basket. Luther East scored the last basket in the quarter to make it 20-14 at the half. One play in the quarter gave us a picture of what the second half would be like: Lee was shoved by one Luther East player into another; foul, Lee Bianchi.

The third quarter saw more pressure from Luther East, especially on Kara bringing the ball up court. Even though the girls were ready for it, Luther East still got six of the first eight points of the quarter to pull within two. Luther East's play got more and more physical, but the fouls were being called on HSRC. Now, the Patriots need work on their defensive positioning, but if their reach-ins were fouls, Luther East's maulings certainly were too. Kara knocked down a three to open it back up to five. By this time HSRC was in the penalty with fouls, so Luther East was shooting free throws. They had six attempts in the quarter; we had two. LE made four of theirs at the the end of the quarter, as well as a basket by their fullback.. er... point guard. The score was 27-26, HSRC at the end of three.

By this time Rachel had fouled out and Lee had four fouls. It looked like the fourth quarter was going to be a test of our depth. And when Lee fouled out, it definitely was. Coach Boss was forced to play at least one inexperienced player for the rest of the game. LE finally caught HSRC at 28 when they scored from, you guessed it, the free throw line. From then on, it was nip and tuck. I didn't mark all the scores from here, but I do remember LE got ahead toward the end of the game by three, 40-37. I believe Becca scored the last basket of the game on a put-back. HSRC made one of two free throws to go up by two. With 2.6 seconds to go, a jump ball was called. LE had the possession arrow. HSRC covered the inbounds play very well, and LE threw it away. HSRC ball, under the basket. LE intercepted the inbounds pass. Kara immediately fouled her with one second to go. LE missed both free throws, and Becca rebounded with the one second remaining. But the girls couldn't throw the ball down the court far enough with accuracy, so the the desperation shot Kara threw up was far short, and the Patriots went down to defeat, 41-39.

The final free throw tallies were 24 attempts for LE, 7 for the Patriots. Luther East played such a physical style that they seemed to mesmerize the officials. Our ticky-tack fouls were called, and their banging went unnoticed. Because we weren't real strong on rebounding positioning, we didn't make it clear to the refs that LE was reaching in. But LE was so over-the-top on some of them that it was a mystery why calls weren't made.

We don't have another game scheduled yet to play LE's girls, but their AD is open to scheduling one, so the girls may have a chance to make the adjustments necessary to even things up. We'll see.

Next games are the boys on Friday at 6:00 [EDIT: 5:15] against Calumet at the Lincoln Center. On Saturday the teams travel to Gurnee for one girls game in between a boys game against HRK's JV and varsity. It's a long trip, but if you can make it, the kids will appreciate the support.

Familiar opponents

2009-12-04T21:28:00.000-08:00

Tonight was a civil war of sorts, as the HSRC Lady Patriots played the Calumet Christian Patriots at the Lincoln Center in Highland, Indiana. Calumet is coached by Jeff Schaap, former coach of the core of the HSRC team (two years ago), and his daughter Cassidy was a member of that team the past two years. Also, some of the girls on the Calumet team were members of the Calumet volleyball program that Kara played with the last few years. So we are not strangers.

We got there in time to see the second half of the Calumet boys team's game against Quentin Road. Calumet's boys are coached by Don Hough, another familiar face to many of us with the HSRC program. The girls teams took the floor a little late because the boys' game ran long. After some glitches with the scoreboard, the game finally got going about 7:45. Since Alyssa arrived late, Hannah joined Kara, Becca, Lee and Carolyn in the starting lineup.

The first quarter was marked by a flurry of shots, mostly threes by Kara. HSRC ran a play which freed up the girls for open outside shots, but not too many fell. Lee did get a three to go it, and then a short time later made one of two free throws. While Kara couldn't get a three to go down, she did get a couple of short shots to go. Lee also got a short shot to fall in the quarter. On the other end of the court, the girls played stout defense. They didn't allow Calumet to get many shots, and the ones they got, they mostly missed. While HSRC was 4 for 15 for the quarter, Calumet was one for nine, with Kayla Obinger getting the lone basket. The score at the end of one was 10-2.

The second quarter was a similar to quarter one. HSRC threw up a lot of shots and a few went in. The defense continued to be strong. Becca got most of the rebounds. The team got six steals but also had five turnovers. HSRC scored nine in the quarter and shut out Calumet, so the half ended with HSRC leading 19-2.

Rachel Eizenga made her season debut when she went in for Carolyn with 1:46 gone in the second quarter, but she really made her presence felt in the third quarter. SHe scored four of the team's nine points in the quarter and was strong underneath, both in defending and rebounding. The rest of the team kept up their good defense and Calumet was held again to two points. At the end of three, HSRC had a commanding 28-4 lead.

Lee had picked up her fourth foul early in the third, so she was on the bench for most of the third and into the fourth. Becca got a basket early in the fourth, but then she picked up her fourth. Because of the foul trouble and the large lead, Coach Boss was able to give some playing time to the bench players. Hannah and Ashley Wessels were able to sub in with about three minutes gone, and then Ashley VanderPloeg also got her chance when Lee fouled out with about 1:45 left. Finally, Emma got in with thirty seconds to go, so every member of the team was able to get some playing time. Calumet was able to take advantage of the youth and inexperience and were able to score the last eight points of the game. Final score was 30-12.

The girls didn't shoot well, ending up 13 for 54 overall. Three point shooting was 2 for 18. The girls were 2 for 6 from the free throw line. Kara led in scoring with 12, while Lee had 8, Becca and Rachel had four each and Alyssa had two. Becca owned the boards with 12 while Rachel had six. Alyssa had five assists. Becca led in steals with five, while Kara had four and Alyssa had three. Becca, Rachel and Lee each had a block. (Yes, Lee.)

Next game is Monday against Luther East at St. John's Lutheran in Lansing. Address/map is on the blog. NOTE: THERE IS NO BOYS GAME. There will only be a girls game. Luther East's boy's team is academically ineligible. They hope to reschedule the game for later in the season. Also, times are now set for the Gurnee games on the 12th, boys and girls games have been scheduled against Brentwood Baptist Christian in Des Plaines on January 8, and a boys game has been added against Families of Faith Christian Academy in Channahon (no, our church has not started a school) on February 19 at 5:30 or 7:00. We don't have a specific address yet, as they are in the process of building a school building. I put their current address on the map, but that is probably not where we're going to play. Check the calendar schedule for these changes.

Continuing learning experience

2009-11-30T18:57:00.000-08:00

The HSRC Patriots boys team played their second game of the season tonight, this one against Hinsdale Adventist Academy's JV team. The lack of experience of each player individually plus the lack of practice time was still quite evident, as the Patriots went down to defeat, 47-14.

Hinsdale's team was probably not as talented as the Heritage we played last week, but Hinsdale's strengths were where we are the weakest - on the perimeter. Hinsdale was not very strong inside, but their guards were good ball-handlers, ball-hawks and shooters. This resulted in a lot of made outside shots by Hinsdale and a lot of turnovers by our guards.

Justin, Jimi, Luke D., Luke L., and Teddy were the starters for the game. The first quarter ended with Hinsdale leading 10-2, but the quarter was strangely encouraging. The shots weren't going down, but the guys were playing with a lot of energy and defending pretty well, but the ball-handling continued to be a problem and the shots weren't falling. The Patriots made one shot (Justin) out of seven taken in the quarter. The team also committed six turnovers.

The second quarter was the best quarter for the Patriots. The guys actually outscored Hinsdale 4-2 to open up the quarter, with Luke L. making a nice inside shot and Stanley driving to the basket for a layup. But then Hinsdale made a three, which seemed to take the wind out of our sails. Luke L. split two free throws to finish up our scoring for the quarter, but not before Hinsdale got a couple more baskets. The score at the end of the half was Hindsdale 19, HSRC 7.

Hinsdale came out very hot in the third quarter. Not only were they hitting their shots, but they also clamped down on defense and caused a lot of turnovers by our guys. HSRC did shoot 33% in the quarter, but only got off six shots, after averaging eight per quarter in the first half. The Patriots nearly doubled their turnover tally in the quarter, giving the ball up eight times for a total of eighteen in the game to that point. Hinsdale scored fifteen in the quarter to our four, and the score at the end of three was Hinsdale, 34-11.

The fourth was more of the same. Hinsdale seemed like they couldn't miss a shot, and weren't letting our guys take any. We made fewer turnovers, but that was mostly because we held the ball so long before passing. The Patriots only got off four shots the whole quarter, but one was a three made by Luke D., his first points of the year. That was the extent of the scoring for HSRC for the quarter. Hinsdale scored thirteen, and the final score was 47-14.

Leading scorer was Luke L., with five. Justin had four, Luke had three and Stanley had two. Justin V.P. led in rebounding with 9, while Luke L. had 7 to go with his block. Justin also had three steals and block; four players each had one assist.

Next game is the girls on Friday at 7:30 vs. Calumet Christian at the Lincoln Center in Highland, IN. Hope to see you there.

Recap of opening night

2009-11-28T22:09:00.000-08:00

The Patriots, both the girls team, now in their third year, and the boys, brand new this year, opened up last Monday night at Heritage Christian High in Dyer, Indiana. From what we knew about Heritage, we feared these games would be "baptism by fire", as we knew that Heritage's boys had taken second in last year's ICSTS tournament, and the girls had won the tournament. We also knew that our girls had gained in experience and confidence in the three years they had been playing together, and we were curious to see how they now measured up against some top competition.

At 5:30 the girls started (exactly at 5:30, as I walked in as the opening tip was tossed). As we later found out, Heritage has essentially one girls' team, so it really wasn't a JV team we took on. However, they did limit their upperclassmen's playing time in response to our request for a JV game. So what this all meant was that Danielle Zandstra was going to be going up against us. Yes, the 6'1" or 6'2" Danielle Zandstra. But after the game got going, we found out that our girls weren't intimidated. She often started at the high post, so Becca or Alyssa would pick her up there and slow her down as tried to drop down into the low post. This didn't mean the girls stopped her. She still got her points, just not as many as we thought she might. Anyway, because of some outside shooting by Alyssa and Kara, and some down-low work by Becca, the girls only trailed 13-9 at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter was more of a defensive quarter, as Danielle was on the bench and Heritage worked the ball around the perimeter more, waiting for an open shot. Our girls only got four in the quarter, on a basket and two free throws. Heritage got six, so the score at the half was Heritage, 19-13.

The girls struggled in the third quarter. Heritage started defending the one play the girls had practiced, so there were a lot of turnovers as the girls hadn't had a chance to practice any other plays. Danielle was back in, and she played well. The scoring in the third quarter was 10-3 in favor of Heritage, and the cumulative score was 29-16.

Because of the troubles the girls were having in getting the play to work, Coach Boss called what was essentially a clear-out play, with the four other girls clearing out of the lane to let Kara try to beat the one defender on her (because of the play the girls had run earlier, Heritage was playing what amounted to a 1-2-2 defense, with only one girl on the top of the defense). He also changed the defense to a three-quarter court man-to-man press. Both of these paid off somewhat, but the deficit was too large to make up. The Patriots "won" the fourth quarter, 13-11, but lost the game, 40-29. Overall assessment: the girls looked pretty good, especially having only a few practices.

Key stats were: Kara led in scoring with 16, while Becca had 6, Alyssa had a three, and Lee and Carolyn each had a basket. This was Carolyn's first career basket. Way to go, Carolyn! Becca had five rebounds and three blocks and Kara had three assists and six steals. On the negative side, four girls had four or more turnovers.

The guys then took on what was the Heritage JV boys team. The boys also had very little time to install plays, and a couple of key players were not able to make one or both of the practices in which these plays were practiced. The lack of practice was very obvious early on, as the game started badly for the Patriots. Ball-handling was a problem for the guys, which led to a lot of turnovers. Because lack of practice, the guys were trying to remember what they were to do instead of doing them instinctively. All of this resulted in a 15-3 first quarter deficit and 22-5 at halftime.

Justin VanderPloeg was put in the in the third quarter and seemed to provide a spark. The guys played a little better defense and were only outscored 6-3 in the quarter, but that still meant they were down 29-8 at the end of that quarter.

Heritage seemed to get more comfortable with their game by the time the fourth quarter rolled around, and they started attacking the basket. Our guys were on their heels, the ball-handling was only marginally better, and we had trouble shooting. Heritage outscored HSRC 17-4 in the quarter, and the final was 46-12.

Justin VanderPloeg led in scoring with four on two field goals, while Jimi Dill and Dustin Vail had three each, Jimi on a three, and Dustin with a two and a free throw. Luke Lorenz rounded out the scoring with a basket he got a on nice offensive rebound and put-back. Justin had eight rebounds and Luke L. had seven. Those two also each had an assist, while Luke L. had two steals. Jimi had two blocks.

Next games are the guys at Hinsdale Adventist Academy Monday at 4:30, and the girls against Calumet at Lincoln Center in Highland Friday. Schedules and game locations are at the bottom of the page.

Welcome to the new blog

2009-11-24T15:50:00.001-08:00

Welcome to the HSRC blog, devoted exclusively to HSRC sports.

The old blog will remain for Calumet sports, but since the audience for each is quite different, it didn't make sense to overlap it.

So here we are.

The first post will follow shortly, about the opening games against the Heritage Christian High Defenders.