Crunch Time

As the final weeks of regular season basketball began, the Boys’ basketball team had one thing in mind: getting to the playoffs. As hard as it sounded, we knew we had the potential and determination to win, and to be recognized as a team that could win. Our first game of the week was against East Side Community. Back in our first meeting, the Blue Devils fell short, losing by 6 in the final, crucial moments of the game. But with a new mind set, we easily set off to a big lead, and never gave up the lead, easily striding over East Side Community, 57-46.

We then played against PACE, who we had also lost to before by 12. A game where Joseph Park exploded for 29 points, but still could not fend off the PACE basketball team. Two starters were injured, and the game started off with numerous amounts of turnovers. As the game progressed, we were able to shorten the lead, but still lost 73-47, showing how losing two key players dug a hole for our team.

ICE, another good team, had beaten us the first time, but the game was forfeited, and Baruch had come up with the win. But ICE did not have the previous energy they had in our first meeting, and the game was close for the first half. But as the second half started, we lost control  of the game, and easily let ICE pass through our defense, losing the game, 62-43.

As we waited for our next game, against American Sign Language, we were determined to win. We had lost to ASL the previous game by 2, because we (AS A TEAM, NOT AN INDIVIDUAL), could not come up with 2 crucial rebounds. But for this game, we had no practice, and as the game started, we were off to a terrific lead, 29-13 in the first half. But all the magic had gone from our fingers, and by the end of the third quarter, we were trailing 37-36. As the game painfully wore on, turnovers and missed shots pushed up away from ASL, as they finished the game, 60-52.

That was the end of our playoff dream. Had we won that game against ASL, we could’ve gone to the playoffs, but our team could not win together, and as we look forward to our last game against M.H.S, all we could think about is finishing the season with pride. It was a great run, and even though we fell short, we all improved, which was the key to most of our success.

-Joseph P (12)