The freshman basketball team started the season off on the right foot by winning the Metro League Championship. In order to do so, they defeated Clayton 44-40 in overtime, Lutheran North 27-22 and Priory 29-27 in the championship.
The tournament started going badly even before it began. Over the weekend, star wing Jack Andrews, freshman, broke his nose at practice. This knocked him out of the first two games, putting the team at a steep disadvantage.
Against Clayton in the opener, the Wildcats had a 10 point lead going into the 4th quarter. Clayton didn’t quit though, and they came back to take a 40-38 advantage with a minute to play. But with 30 seconds left, Jordan Hawkins, freshman, made a steal and threw it down court to Logan McCall, freshman, who made the easy layup to tie the game.
“I just wanted to make sure to relax and make the shot. But I didn’t want to celebrate yet, because I knew we were going to overtime,” said McCall.
After extending it to OT, Nick Cacciarelli, freshman, took over and scored the only 4 points during the extended time. The Wildcats overcame the late adversity and barely escaped the opener.
Two days later, the Cats traveled to Priory to play Lutheran North. After starting off slow, the cats had another large lead late in the game. Cacciarelli fueled the attack on defense this time as well, getting a couple key steals that led to easy buckets. But once again, the freshman let Lutheran North work its way back into the game late. The Wildcats were getting outrebounded on both sides of the floor, and the Crusaders scored nearly all of their points on second chance opportunities. But Lutheran North ran out of time for their comeback and once again, the Cats escaped with an ugly 27-22 win.
“It was hard to watch, but I’m glad my team was able to pull out the wins,” said the injured Andrews.
This took them to the championship game against Priory. Despite its advancement to the finals, Priory was predicted as the least talented team Westminster would need to play in the tournament. Plus the fact that Andrews was returning from his injury, which would greatly enhance the teams capabilities. However, the team shot terribly from the floor, only scoring 17 points in the first half. Priory’s zone was a virgin concept to the Cats, and they weren’t knocking down their open looks. Once again, they were down 20-18 late in the 4th quarter. In stepped Joel “James” Johnson, freshman. His teammates call him Joel James after Lebron James, as he sports the iconic number 3 on the back of his jersey. Johnson had struggled early in the game with a couple of unforced turnovers, but those mistakes were erased in the final quarter. He hit two consecutive threes with 3 minutes to play to give his team the lead.
“I had turned the ball over a couple times earlier in the game, and I felt I have to make these shots to help my team out,” said Johnson. The Wildcats held on to win 29-27.
This year’s freshman team has a lot of speed and talent, from players like Nick Cacciarelli, Jordan Hawkins, and Jack Andrews. They have plenty of people who can shoot, and the team should be able to put up a lot of points. Their defense is also developing well, as their quickness and use of the press is going to allow them to produce a decent amount of turnovers and fast-break points.
However, there are some holes. Size is one of them. Their lack of size causes much of their offense to be run from the perimeter, which makes them vulnerable when they have poor shooting days, such as the championship against Priory. Their lack of size also gives the team headaches when rebounding. They allow a lot of offensive rebounds, and way too many second chance points. Another problem is injuries. Even before the season started, both Andrews and Minsok Lee have gotten hurt. Andrews returned in the final game of the tournament but was far below his usual self, shooting less than 20% from the field. He needed to wear a mask to protect his ailing nose, which impaired his vision. Lee returned recently from a bad knee. Finally, the team’s offense appears to be inconsistent. Although it is just the beginning of the season, the team failed to score 100 points in 3 games against mediocre teams. Its not talent the team lacks, its flow and poise where they fall short. Once the boys learn to play together, this problem should vanish.
