On Dec. 1, in their second game of the season, Raymond boys’ and girls’ basketball teams had two effort-filled games against Old Orchard Beach at Jordan- Small Middle School in Raymond.
 |
| Raymond seventh grader Silvia Roma passes to a teammate on Friday, Dec. 1 in a girls basketball game against Old Orchard Beach at Jordan-Small Middle School in Raymond. PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELA |
Boys
“I was really proud of the effort,” said Raymond boys’ basketball coach Andrew Wing. “We had a really good practice yesterday and everything we worked on I think we got better at – defense, getting back in transition, not giving up as many layups. The press was much better today, cleaner defense.”
Wing said even though defense was better today, it can still improve and on offense free throws need a little work.
Old Orchard Beach jumped out to an early lead.
Raymond moved the ball and had several shots at basket. Eighth grader Sean Lebel put Raymond on the scoreboard when he had a fast break and took the ball straight to the hoop.
Old Orchard Beach grabbed several rebounds and had a 15-8 lead after one quarter. JSMS would make a strong attempt to turn the game around.
Raymond excelled on defense; and eighth grader Liam Buckley had a nice block.
Lebel had another fast break and JSMS put a bunch of points on the scoreboard. It was 23-13, Old Orchard Beach at the half.
The JSMS defense intensified and soon they were eight points away from tying the game.
“We played a lot better than last game,” said Lebel, who scored 25 points. “We still got beat in transition a little bit, but we were able to clean up a lot of things, we didn’t have as many turnovers on offense. The way we were able to get back on defense and get turnovers [went well]; not forcing turnovers for us.”
Raymond grabbed rebounds and seventh grader Cameron Lawler hit a three-pointer. A short time later, they were within four points of tying the game. Then only two points separated the teams.
Unfortunately, Old Orchard Beach pulled away. Nine points separated the team. Raymond fought until the very end.
“We definitely scored more points than last game said Lawler. “We need to work on defense; we’ve been passing better and putting the ball up more.”
Girls
Raymond took the court aggressively. They communicated and although Old Orchard Beach snagged several turnovers and jumped to an early lead. Raymond wasn’t about to let that stand.
Eighth grader Brooklyn Roy put Raymond on the scoreboard. Raymond seventh grader Silvia Roma had a fast break and Raymond led by two after one quarter.
Raymond continued to get rebounds and the game was close. Raymond pulled ahead. They kept Old Orchard Beach virtually scoreless in the second quarter. It was 17-11, Raymond midway through.
The Raymond team wasted no time and scored early in the second half. The game got much closer and only two points separated the teams. Roma had back-to-back baskets as Raymond held onto the lead.
“We worked well as a team,” said Roma, who scored 12 points. “We really pulled together and worked hard and ... we did get a little tired towards the end and some of us were not hustling as much and not calling out who we had, so I think we could work on that.”
Roma was proud of how the team played.
With 33 seconds left one point separated the teams. Raymond worked hard to stay ahead, but Old Orchard Beach was able to edge ahead in the end.
“When we are up, it’s ok to recognize to slow things down, when we’re down then we got to go,” said Raymond girls’ basketball coach Deb Lebel. “They played great defense today, so much better than a week ago, they are improving in their help defense. They are really young, and the more practice they get, the better off we’ll be.” <
No comments:
Post a Comment