Wescare 38 – Arborbrook 35
A tremendously exciting game came down to the last shot that hit off the back of the rim and bounced out as the Falcons (4-4) lost their second straight heartbreaker to the Wescare Knights. The Falcons quickly fell behind 3-0 before Matthew Pedemonte dropped in two straight buckets for a 4-3 Falcon lead. The Knights two big guys would take over the rest of the first quarter and split the Falcon defense for some easy buckets. Joel VanDusen knocked down 3 points to keep the Falcons within striking range as they went to the second quarter trailing 13-8. The Offense sputtered in the second quarter but the defense tightened and held Wescare to only one shot on almost every possession. Kyle Boutross made two driving baskets in the lane to keep the Falcons close but they still trailed 19-13 at the halftime break. We had not played extremely well offensively the first half as many of our shots rimmed out but all year long we have been a second half team and we were now controlling the boards. Coach was confident we would come back. This game was far from over.
Ryan Brown finally saw a couple of shots drop in the third quarter and Matthew Pedemonte made a terrific basket went he took a rebound off the defensive boards and drove coast to coast through the Wescare care defense and layed the ball in at the other end. Wescare still could not get an offensive rebound but hit a couple of long shots and held a 28-21 lead as the fourth quarter began. The Falcons came out strong and baskets by Caleb Robinson, Matthew, Ryan, and a 3 point play by Kyle gave the Falcons their first lead since the first quarter at 32-28 with 4 minutes left in the game. Wescare tied the game at 30 and then took a 4 point lead going into the final two minutes. Ryan Brown brought the Falcons back to within two and Kyle Boutross tied the game once again with less than a minute to go with a short jump shot inside the paint. Wescare would take a 36-34 lead when they grabbed their only offensive rebound of the second half on the front on the front end of a missed one and one free throw and put it back in. Caleb Robinson shaved a point off the lead with a free throw but the Falcons were forced to foul with only 12 seconds left in the game. The Knights made both free throws and pushed their lead to 38-35. The Falcons moved the ball to mid court and called time out with 7 seconds left. Coach set up a play that worked perfectly and gave Ryan an open shot just outside the 3 point line. The ball hit the back of the rim and the rebound went to Kyle who put up a second shot just after the buzzer sounded.
Another exciting game that came down to the wire. It was fun and a great game to watch. Our Achilles heel is our free throw shooting which played a major part in the outcome of this game. We made only 5 of 20 shots from the charity stripe. Making free throws in practice is not the same as making them in the game. The pressure is much greater and the concentration level is different. Each player must develop his own confidence. Game experience will help but is not the whole answer. Each player must work on this individually and turn his own cornor.
For the record: Matthew Pedemont lead the Falcons in scoring with 11 points, 5 rebounds, 6 steals, and 3 assists. Matthew played another outstanding game. Kyle Boutross scored 9 points with 9 rebounds and 4 steals. Ryan Brown scored 8 points, pulled down 13 rebounds with 1 assist. Caleb Robinson added 4 points with 8 rebounds while Joel VanDusen scored 3 points with 6 rebounds. Joel also learned how to play while in foul trouble. Conor Murdock made a huge contribution even though he did not score. With several of the starters in foul trouble Conor provided quality minutes and the level of play never dropped. Conor also came up with two steals.
