Mooseheart senior Hameed Odunewu looked at the scoreboard and accepted the fact that the Red Ramblers were likely going to lose to York during Saturday’s 22nd annual Batavia’s Jim and Sylvia Roberts Night of Hoops.
The Red Ramblers were down by 31 points midway through the third quarter, but they didn’t quit, cutting their deficit to 17 points in the final minute before losing 62-45.
“We figured we might not be able to come back, but we didn’t want to be embarrassed,” Odunewu said. “We picked up our intensity and didn’t want to go out without fighting. If we’re going to get blown out, get blown out in style.”
Such as a thunderous one-handed jam just before the buzzer sounded.
“I talked to coach before the game and asked him if there has been a dunk and he said, ‘No,'” Odunewu said. “I said, ‘OK, I’ll do my best to get one then, so if we’re going to lose, at least we have something positive to remember.”
Mooseheart (12-8) only trailed 11-9 after one quarter, but York (13-9) dominated the second quarter, outscoring the Red Ramblers 20-2 to take a 31-11 lead at the half.
“We stepped up and hit shots. It was simple as that,” York coach Vince Doran said. “We moved the ball pretty well and it led to open looks and that made the difference for us.”
Joe Pierotta led the Dukes with 10 points as they had 12 players score.
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“We lost a tough conference game against Lyons so it was nice to bounce back,” Doran said. “We’ve been playing good though and we played well again.”
York didn’t slow down in the second half, scoring the first 10 points of the third quarter to take a commanding 41-11 lead, scoring often on easy layups off of turnovers.
“We didn’t have anything to answer their defense,” Mooseheart coach Ron Ahrens said. “They were quicker than us and we didn’t have an answer for anything they were doing, and they ran a good offense and we didn’t defend very well.”
Difficult matchups against bigger programs should help Mooseheart as the Red Ramblers prepare for the end of the regular season to defend its Class 1A title.
“Things hopefully will get better,” Ahrens said. “We play teams like this so we can do better in our regional. I was disappointed with how we played because I thought we’d have a lot better showing, so it’s a disappointment from our part.”
Ramiro Sanchez contributed 10 points and helped Mooseheart finish the game on a 24-10 run.
“It’s one thing to lose, but if we get better, that’s OK,” Odunewu said. “We’re not going to see schools like this in 1A so if this makes us better for regionals, then we’re fine with it.”