The ball slipped from freshman Jayce McCain’s fingers as he tried to pass the ball to freshman Rick Barros.
Luckily, Barros was able to grasp the ball, but didn’t make it in time to the basket.
“Make your layups!” coach Dave Ancrum shouted.
Though the first half did not go well for the Cavs, the boys were able to get their heads back in the game and beat Linden High School, 59-45, on Dec. 22 in the Mesa Verde Small School Challenge.
“We just needed to regroup, and after halftime we did a lot better,” senior Skovran Cunningham said.
Ancrum agreed.
With four games in the past five days, he said he’s very happy with the boys’ competence.
“I’d rather them have games than practice,” Ancrum said.
Freshman Cole Johnson enjoys playing so many games in a short time.
“Usually I have three games in two days so this has been like a stretched-out version of that,” he said.
Between games, he’s been resting and thinking about working hard, he said.
“Sleeping and stretching are also very important,” he added.
All of the rest has paid off, with Johnson scoring 10 points in the game against Linden.
Barros scored 20 points (three 3-pointers), and freshman B.J. Askew scored 18 points (two 3-pointers).
Between this game and the next (on Dec. 23 against Hamilton High School in the tournament at 7 p.m.), McCain said the team needs to work on their man-to-man defense.
“It was really bad; that’s why we were playing zone,” he said.
“It was a bad win. It wasn’t the best we could do.”
