Date: Dec. 3
Opponent: Cornerstone Christian
Location: Home
Result: Country Day won 53-46 to bring record to 1-2
Inside info from junior Ted Zhou: “In the first half, everybody wasn’t playing at their potential. They weren’t confident. (Junior Jackson Crawford’s) three-pointers kept us in the game (until the end of the first half).
“In the second half, we came back; we were more confident. Everybody was open (and taking shots). (Junior Chris Wilson) made a right-corner jump shot, and (junior Aaron Graves) made (a couple) layups.
“At the end of the second half, we started grabbing rebounds.
“(Cornerstone Christian) gave us a lot of space in the middle, (opening the chance) to make layups. They didn’t shoot a lot, but instead, they dribbled and passed the ball around.”
Inside info from junior Jackson Crawford: “We were down about 24-9 in the first half, and then shots finally starting falling, and we started playing better defense. Next thing you know, we were tied 24-24 at halftime.
“In the third quarter, (Graves) and (Wilson) started making more shots, getting us the lead.
“Our ball movement was much better, but we still need to finish more and go stronger to the rim. (And) we need to work on rebounding and (reducing) turnovers. A lot of the time, the other team scores on second chances, and we can’t allow that to happen.”
Comment by coach David Ancrum: “I thought our rebounding and defense were better. We improved on 50-50 balls.
“We (definitely) played with more confidence and urgency. However, our rebounding, (while good), could get better.
“(Cornerstone Christian) had a big guy, and he was low, so we had to work on getting a little tough by the basket.
“An exciting moment of the game was when (sophomore Max Wu) made a left-hand layup on the left-hand side. It was a good recognition on behalf of our point guard (to pass to Wu).”
Next game: Dec. 6 at home at 7:30 p.m., against Al-Arqam Islamic School.
—By Arijit Trivedi
