Defense was key to the section. You look at Washington and all their success. A lot of it has to do with them always being the best defensive team in the section. Since we lost to Washington at home, our focus has been to improve defensively. We have five kids who can score. They can play defense too. |
For one, it took their crowd out of it some and, two, it gave us a tremendous amount of confidence. Our confidence was a little shaky from (Washington) whipping us on our court. |
He's always been a very good shooter. He takes high percentage shots. He's always been pretty good at ball-handling. He drives and dishes the ball better than anyone. |
He's done that before. That's something he's practiced. |
I can't believe we did that. That's amazing. |
I noticed a huge change in him once he won that state golf championship. As a sophomore and junior, he shied away from the tough situations. As a senior, he wanted the ball. He wanted to win. His whole demeanor changed. He wasn't afraid. |
If I went with a big lineup, then we got in trouble offensively. If we went with a small lineup, they'd throw over the top. It was a tough situation trying to match up with them. |
If they didn't put a body on us, they just jumped over us. Their quickness, speed and height were too much for us. We wanted to offset that with our shooting ability but they suffocated Christian. |
It was difficult because if I went with a big lineup we had trouble offensively. When we went with the smaller lineup, they just threw it over the top of us. They're big but they're a good team. No question. |
It would have been a different game if we would have hit a few more in the third. We kept the press on because we thought we could rattle them. They displayed a lot of poise. |
Playing the (play-in) game helped us a lot. It's a big win for the program and for the section. It makes a statement about our section. We're a lot tougher than people give us credit for. |
The last couple game we took too many bad outside shots. We went with a different philosophy and attacked the basket. |
The turning point for him, and the turning point for the team, came when they got waxed at home by Wash High. After the game, I asked Christian when he was going to do it. We talked and he realized he had to be a leader of this team. |
They gave all they had on the court against Aliquippa. They accepted that and moved on after a day off. |
They played with a lot of poise, give them credit. I thought we could have rattled them. |