J.K.O v. Baruch

On Thursday, January 10th, the Baruch Boys’ Varsity Basketball team took on J.K.O, in their second appearance. The first game that took place back in November, the Blue Devils had successfully won against them by 20 points, leading up to the first win of the season. We had won at our home court, and now we were set to play in theirs.

The game started with J.K.O handling the tip and easily scoring within the first few seconds of the game. The game continued to progress, but J.K.O couldn’t stop the Blue Devils, easily opening up the first quarter with a 15-9 lead. The harassment didn’t stop from the Baruchians, who slowly slipped under the weak 2-3 defense of J.K.O. At the half, the Blue Devils led 32-19. It seemed to the Blue Devils that it would be another blow out game, but J.K.O came out of their huddle with a burning desire to take back the game.

The problem with our team is, and always has been defense. Although we had a 13 point lead, our coach, HowardSoskind told us during the half, “we shouldn’t be winning by 13,we should be winning by 23.” It wasn’t a pretty game, coming from both teams, but the game continued.

J.K.O managed to slowly break apart our defense even further, and by the time we realized what had happened, J.K.O outscored us in the third quarter, 12-10, making the score 42-31 at the beginning of the fourth quarter. The game continued to slide from the Blue Devils from there, with J.K.O continuing to attack the basket and playing better, but not amazing defense.

As the game came down to the final 2 minutes, the score had closed, and we were holding onto a 3 point lead. J.K.O could not be stopped, because our defense was allowing the ball to get to the rim.

But the Blue Devils started to regain their composure, trading baskets, but then moving away from J.K.O by making smart plays, and not rushing the ball. The final score was 50-45, Blue Devils. Although we pulled off a win, the team and coach were not satisfied. It had been a close game, even when we knew we were the better team. But in the end, all that matters is the win, and it makes us strive for more wins to get into the playoffs.

-Joseph P. (12)

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3 game winning streak

The girls basketball varsity team had three games this past week. One against Laguardia, one against George Washington and last against AP Randolph. All these game had one thing in common, we were down and by the last few minutes of the game, we start hitting out shots, better passes and win the game by just enough. The game against Lagaurdia was the most intense, starting off the first few minutes strong and starting to lose that touch. This game was intense and by the 4th quarter we were down but time was on our side. The crowd, the bench made a lot of noise and that is where we get our confidence. With Mikaela fouled out we played a lot harder and winning the game by 3. Just like last year with Terri's buzzer beater that we will never forget. The George Washington game was intense with the same, starting off strong and losing it but still won and the same goes to AP Randolph. Although we knew the last two games we could have won by a lot more but we know that if we play the way we play at the 4th quarter since the beginning we will be up by a lot. After these three games we wont have another game til regents week. But it is not time to relax, playoffs are around the corner and we need to get that spot. We will be working as a team and on our free time working on our skills. We know that we can do this as long as we are a team!!!!

Kathy Chiam
(Senior)
Writer for Sports

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Girl's Basketball

We had a game today, 01/10/2013, against George Washington. It was a really... interesting game. The refs were surprisingly nice but mistakes were made. One of the girl's from the other team, very obviously pushed a player on our team to the floor. No call was made. And their excuse? "I didn't see anything." As a ref, their job is to watch the game closely and also to make sure the players on court are not doing anything "wrong". However, towards the end of the game, as one of our player was charging to the basket, the other team's player just pushed her to a side. A call was made.

Overall, I feel that when a player is on or off a court, you have to respect each other and the rules. You cannot simply go out of your way and push someone because you are mad that you are losing. Simply pick yourself up and do better. We did win our game, fair and square and we do have another home game tomorrow, 01/11/2013, come out and support us!

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2-1 & 3-3

2-1

A great start to the new season, the boys won at home against Henry Street 62-44. The Boys’
team is currently on a 2 game winning streak, and we’ll see to it that it will continue to rise.

The game started off with the Blue Devils winning the tip, and easily rallied for a 6 point lead
early on. As halftime came, we were still up by 6, but as Coach Soskind had said, “we should not be
winning by 6, but rather, by 16.” The game was close at the half, just like the game we had against JKO,
but as the second half started, we were easily sliding through their defense, getting steals, simple plays,
and although our defense wasn’t working correctly, we were able to manage an 18-point lead against a
team we had to beat. The game was another improvement both offensively and defensively. Everyone
played in the game, except for those that were injured, and we were able to use everyone to score, to
do anything that would help win us the game. In the end, the fans were a great support to our team,
and we’ll continue to win!



3-3
As the season for the Boys’ Varsity Basketball team continues, the final record as of this week is 3-3. This
week was a bad week of basketball, since we lost 3 straight games. (The game against ICE was forfeited
because ICE did not have their roster up, which means an automatic defeat, even if they won the game).

On Tuesday, we opened up a game against East Side Community, who was off to a poor start in the
season. The intensity level for East Side was overwhelming our team, and we were down early, giving up
12 easy points to East Side in the 1st quarter. The whole game, East Side had held the lead until the 4th
quarter, where we started to make a run, and eventually at the final minute, Peter Lok stole the ball and
scored the game-tying lay-up. Then we fouled, and they were up by 1 point. I lost the ball at the end of
the game, which caused us to lose, but when the scores were checked again, we had actually lost by 6,
so we would have never came back.

The next game was against PACE, and we started off with amazing intensity, and PACE was not ready
both defensively and offensively. As the game continued however, we began to lose intensity, and our
defensive plays were not going well. We weren’t rebounding by boxing out, and we weren’t playing with
confidence. We lost the game by 12, but it should’ve been a close game.

The final game was against Eleanor Roosevelt Huskies, who proved to be a tough team from the start.
They were intimidating, with a 6’6” center, but height doesn’t win games; the better team wins. We got
off to a poor start, scoring only 3 points nearing the end of the first quarter. As the game progressed, we
were able to get some points here and there, but ultimately, ELRO dominated the entire game, and we
lost by double digits for our second straight game.
We need to play better as a team and make the right decisions. We were not controlling our tempo, but
making our own plays which weren’t working. We’ll continue to improve, and we hope to see more fans
come out to our games!

-Joseph P. (12)

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Girl's Basketball

The girls basketball team jsut had their first scrimmage on 11/20/12 against a school from Queens. We started off with really little intensity on the court. Tha first half of the game did not show how the team usually played. The passes were sloppy, fouling in the first few minutes, walking back on offense and there were really little taking on the court. The score was something we didnt expect, it was a close score between the two teams with Baruch leading with only a couple of points. After that first half, we got our head into the game and second half we had the intensity, running down the courts, and talking on court. We started to knock down many shots and got a lead of 10 points by the end of the 3rd quarter. We ended the game winning by 20 with a 36-16 but the team and the coaches new we could have done so much better. With this scrimmage, we have a lot to work on and we all know the way we played in the second half, that is how we have to start our first game of the season on monday. Come support the girls on thier frist gaem right after thanksgiving break. It's a home game at 4:30 in Baruch College. Other games are already posted on PSAL so go take a look or ask one of the girls on the team. Go blue Devils!!

 

-Kathy C.

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Soccer and Basketball

Girls soccer season has ended. Starting off with only 11 girls to having at least 20 on the team, the team has really developed. We may not have won championship or played our first play off game but we are all winners. We come to practice ready to work even if not everyone shows up. We push each other, we critiqued each other but at the end we are all a team helping each other develop. The last week was tough, games were cancelled, not having a couch for a week but we managed. It's  our last year on this soccer team, Kaylin, Patty and I. We may not have lead them to the championships but we lead a good team. We did our best and now it's time to hand this leadership role to the young ones. Good luck to you girls next season. GO BLUE DEVILS

Basketball

The girls basketball team has their team already with 7 returnees and 3 new freshmen. We may not have had the best turn out like the boys try outs but we still have a team with talent. We may be a small team in height and size but the girls are working on their speed and handling skills. We've played many teams with really tall girls but so what if they are. We have the speed, where we take that as an advantage, during fast breaks or transitions. Our tryout was quick simple with the amount of time we had after the boys, an hr. We introduced ourselves and did some full court lay ups, passing and some ball handling. We did a lot of condition with running and down the courts after missed free throws. We ended with some 5 on 5 and although we were still getting use to our teammates and how they played, we did quite well on our first 5 on 5.  Having Jessenia and now Ally as out coaches we know we will be in shape and ready to play.

We take each practice seriously with some jokes here and there. We take in each drill that we learn and the critiques we get from our coaches.
Like what Joseph said in his post it's the small things that matter, no matter how simple it maybe.

Kathy Chiam
(Senior)
Writer for Sports 

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Basketball

Basketball season is just around the corner! Try outs are on the 29th of October and I cannot wait! It’s something that I look forward to all year long; the games, the excitement, the fans, the chants, and everything that follows in a game. Being on the basketball team had made me develop as a person, a leader, and a role model. I have never regretted joining the team; in matter of fact, it has been the best choice I have ever made. Making new friends and just playing a sport that we all love. Bonding with each other inside and outside of school and just leaving the stress off for a few hours. Nothing to worry about, just basketball and I love it. Not only was I able to play a sport I love, meeting new people that became family, it was a great way to stay healthy and fit. I lost 20 pounds in 2 months!!!!!!!! Its great, during the season I eat healthy and stay healthy. During games, that intense feeling you get when it is crunch time and the scores are so close... it just gives me the butterflies, nervous feeling like playing the first game. Those are the feelings I love. The feelings like I am part of a team that I thought I wouldn't be able to make it in. I'm counting down the days until try outs, until our start of the season, until our first game.

Kathy Chiam
(Senior)
Writer for Sports

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Basketball Try-outs/practice - Boys & Girls

BOYS

The boys first started out with some light stretching individually and then a light jog around the perimeter of the gymnasium for ten laps. 

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After then, they move on to some arm stretches and more leg stretches - with 16 seconds each. James Davis of the senior class lead these stretches and he took turns with the rest of the group to count sixteen seconds per each stretch. 

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After the warm up, the boys went on to practice some lay-ups. Starting with some right hand lay-ups then moved on to left hand lay-ups. These were lead by the seniors including, Peter Lok, Jeremy Nadel and others with some help from juniors like Brian Chu and William Yu. It might seem easy, but it can become very complicated with the boys circulating and several balls bouncing at the same time. 

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Next, they practiced some jump shots. 

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Following the jump shot are handles, which is basically dribbling with one hand after the next hand. 

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Defense drills came next including defense stances- sliding along the perimeter of the line. 

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Horseshoe shots were next. They slowly distant themselves away from the hoop as they took turns taking shots.

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Subsequently are practice games! It can be pretty intense, boys against boys divided into teams of shirts and skins. 

[Images/Videos]

By Kristy M. (12)

Images and videos will be uploaded ASAP - Please be patient!

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Girls’ Basketball Bottle Competition

Have you noticed large bags filled with plastic bottles and aluminum cans in your classrooms?

They don’t look very fitting for the classroom; however, it is for a very good cause. This year, the girls’ basketball team has lost its funding to rent the gym in Baruch College. The Baruch’s girls’ basketball team is very strong. My jaw dropped when I looked at the team’s record for the past few years. They ended each of their seasons on a very strong note. With this much potential, how could you possibly let it all go to waste? I really don’t understand how it is possible for their funding to be cut. Seriously, it’s ridiculous. I think that this bottle and can collecting competition was pretty clever. It’s a unique method to fundraise to get their funding back for the gym, and it’s also a great way to get the whole school involved, both recycling and making money. Who says that you have to be on a sports team to be a part of the school? Support your school’s girls’ basketball team and every time you finish a bottle, put it in your advisor’s big plastic bag. The girls’ basketball team will go around collecting your advisory’s bag of bottles every Monday. Remember, this is a competition. Bring on the competitiveness and show us what you are made of! Winners get a prize from the prize box! Good luck y’all!

Yei Ling Ma

(Sophomore)

Writer for Sports 

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