7th Blue-January 22-23

This weekend we were in the D2 level of the tournament at Hardwood Palace. We played hard and finished with 1 win and 2 losses, with one loss coming by 1 point when we had 4 shots to win the game in the last minute. We followed that game up with our winning effort and beat our next opponent by 4, and making the late game shots to put us into the lead and seal the win. Our last game was a measuring stick for us and the loss we suffered showed us that we must execute at a higher level to be able to compete against the next level of teams. 

Blue Team 28 Napa BGC 29

We started off missing 6 lay ups in a row and didn't score until the 1:40 mark. The score was 10-2 after one quarter and got as high as 16-6. We slowly fought our way back to 27-20 deficit. We controlled the game throughout the 4th quarter and trailed 28-29 with 1:35 left to go. Unfortunately, our poor shooting did us in late in the game as we missed our final 5 shots and couldn't get the winning score to fall.

 DEFENSIVE MVP: Will Duval for his overall Defensive performance and effort level

Blue Team 34 Firestorm 30

It was the same story, different game as far as the score and flow of the game. We trailed closely throughout the game, the major difference was that we hit shots early so we never had a big deficit to come back from. We again dominated the 4th quarter and took the lead 26-25 with 3 minutes left. We had a defensive lapse and a badly executed pass that resulted in a 5-0 run in 12 seconds that left us down 30-26 with 2:40 left. I was very happy (afterwards) because we didn't fold and we also capitalized on our opportunities. Monty Khela was huge throughout the game especially the start and finish as he scored 6 points in the 1st quarter and 7 of our last 10 points including 2 free throws to put us down 2 then a huge 3 point shot that put us up by 2 with 35 seconds left. TJ Aldrich-Shadle then sealed the game by grabbing a rebound and going coast to coast through their whole team for a layup to put us up 4 with 16 seconds.

 Defensive MVP: Matt Stockman for his performance in the press

Mr. Clutch: Monty Khela 

We played a very good El Dorado Hills Trojans team last and simply were over matched. We played them close every quarter except the 3rd. The defensive effort level and the teamwork were satisfactory, however we learned that it also takes execution, better ball security and capitalizing on our opportunities on both ends of the floor to be able to compete against a high level team. I love our team unity and spirit during the game, we took our loss with dignity and came out of it with a better understanding of our team and our weaknesses. We will improve on our performance and do better next time. 

 Defensive MVP: Adam Dollison for shutting down their primary scorer

  

Coaches Thoughts

 We stepped back to step forward this tournament as we had to learn how to lose a close one to learn how to win one. We showed strength of character, team unity & the resolve needed to be success. We cannot forget the lessons we learned, unless we want to repeat them. We our on the path that we want to be on, we have only to put in the work and allow time to work it's magic so we grow comfortable with each other as teammates and coaches. 

Coach Adam