Date: Dec. 7
Opponent: Freedom Christian
Location: Home
Result: Country Day lost 53-51 to fall to 1-3.
Country Day scoring: Junior Jackson Crawford 20, junior Ted Zhou 15, junior Chris Wilson 8, sophomore Avinash Krishna 4, sophomore Max Wu 4.
Inside info from small forward Wilson: “In the third quarter, we started to catch up with them in points. We (were down by 12). We then got the lead but were unable to keep it as the fourth quarter went on.
“The (other team) took their time and moved the ball around a lot. There was only one shooter, and he was the one getting most of their points in the first two quarters and a bit into the third. They weren’t a fast-paced team.
“In the second half, I started to get stronger rebounds and started to make my shots when I had them.
“I think the team can improve on defensive rebounds, and we can also improve on controlling the pace of our offense in close point situations, as we had towards the end of the game.”
Inside info from shooting guard Crawford: “We did better defensively in the second half. We were down 10 at halftime and down four at the end of the third period.
“We were too sloppy and didn’t get enough rebounds. (The team) started really slow. We played better in the second half but had too many turnovers late in the fourth quarter.
“We were down two (points) with 0.6 seconds left, and I missed a 3 (pointer) for the win.
“(Freedom Christian) got away with too many offensive rebounds and second-chance points. They had one guy who made a ton of three-pointers from deep. He carried the load for (Freedom Christian), and we let him make too many (shots) early in the game.
“(Krishna) played his best game by far. He was hustling and got a few nice putbacks that kept us in the game early.”
Inside info from small forward Krishna: “In the first half, (Freedom Christian) had a lot of good 3-point shooting by number 11, who was basically their main player. In the second half, we really came together as a team and played some really good defense on (number 11).
“(Freedom Christian) had really good passing around the 3-point arc. They would pass the ball around until they found an opening to the hoop.
“We didn’t have (junior Aaron Graves, because he was at the play), so we had people playing center who haven’t really played it before.
“It was probably my best game. And obviously, the team (performed better as well). We had a lot of people step up and take on non traditional roles for themselves.
“(Wilson and Crawford) really stepped up in their shooting. People were looking to pass. It wasn’t just hero ball.”
Next game: Dec. 10, 7 p.m., at home against Sierra Academy of Expeditionary Learning.
—By Arijit Trivedi
