On Jan. 31, the boys basketball team lost to the Faith Christian Lions 68-36, dropping the Cavs’ record to 4-14 overall and 1-11 in league.
Junior shooting guard Jackson Crawford led Country Day with 12 points. Junior shooting guard Ted Zhou added 11, junior small forward Chris Wilson six, junior center Aaron Graves five and sophomore point guard Max Wu two.
Intensity escalated rapidly as the game started. Within the first minute, Faith Christian (15-9, 9-4) scored twice, catching the Cavs off guard.
The Cavs’ defense picked up quickly. Two minutes into the game, as Faith Christians’ Nikko Rodriguez drove to the basket, sophomore shooting guard Max Wu leapt in front of Rodriguez, preventing him from shooting.
However, the Cavs’ defense didn’t stop Faith Christian’s aggression. After a few turnovers, Rodriguez drove to the basket again, but Wilson blocked his path.
The Cavs were fouled four times merely two minutes into the game.
Halfway through the first quarter, Faith Christian again went on the offensive, constantly repositioning and trying to shoot. The Lions lost control of the ball, and Wu lunged forward and snatched it.
Despite the Cavs’ defense, Faith Christian took an 18-point lead.
In the second half of the first quarter, the Cavs started to catch up to the Lions. With two minutes left, Crawford scored a 3-pointer after three passes from teammates.
Soon after, a Faith Christian player committed a foul, and Graves made a free throw.
In the last 30 seconds of the first quarter, Zhou scored a 3-pointer after an intense and coordinated round of passing.
With seven seconds left, Crawford scored a 3-pointer, bringing the score to 28-10 at the end of the first quarter.
The Cavs greatly improved their defense during the second quarter. The Lions made only two 3-pointers while sustaining four fouls.
With two minutes left in the second quarter, Wilson scored, but Faith Christian followed with four more points, putting the Cavs behind 43-14 at halftime.
Within the first minute of the third quarter, the Cavs scored four points: two from a basket by Wilson and two from free throws by Zhou.
Faith Christian didn’t back down on offense, scoring six points in the first two minutes of the third quarter.
Halfway through the third quarter, Crawford scored a 3-pointer, bringing the score to 43-21.
The third quarter ended with Graves and Wilson scoring consecutively, bringing the score to 60-25.
Neither team lost intensity in the fourth quarter.
Faith Christian scored twice right away, followed by a basket by Graves and a layup by Wu.
With three minutes left in the game, Wilson made two free throws. This was followed by an interception by Graves, who passed the ball to Crawford. Crawford passed across the court to Zhou, who drove to the hoop. He was fouled and hit two free throws.
With one minute on the clock, Faith Christian fouled again, and Zhou earned made two more free throws.
But that was not enough to close the score gap.
Coach David Ancrum was generally satisfied with the team’s performance.
“We played hard; we just had some shots that didn’t fall,” Ancrum said. “The team can work on taking care of the ball and taking care of the (opponent’s) press.”
The Cavs’ next game is Tuesday, Feb. 5, at 7:30 p.m. against Cristo Rey at St. Francis Armory.
—By Ming Zhu
