Rock Falls 50 Seneca 31

Seneca may not have the most talented group of kids this season, but just as we expected they understand the game and are very tough defensively. We knew we'd have to show some patience and work for baskets offensively. We ended up with very balanced scoring and no player reached double figures. Gordo Barron and Tevin Rumley led us with 9 points each. Matt Lauts scored 8, Dylan Austin and J.C. McNinch both scored 7 points and Shay Brown chipped in with 6. It was really nice to see Gordo and J.C. step up and play well on the offensive end. Both are the kind of players who do a lot of things that don't show up in box scores, but again if they can play better offensively we have the chance to be very tough down the stretch.

Tevin Rumley led us in assists with 8 and rebounds with 6. As a team, we had assists on 84% of our baskets. Our goal is 60% each game so we far exceeded that. That is also another sign that the offense is starting to click and kids are feeling more comfortable within the offense. Jake Junis really struggled to get in the flow offensively. He was plagued with foul trouble again. However, what I loved was that even when Jake was open in the 4th quarter for shots we would have expected him to shoot, he made the extra pass and took the assist instead. That is what a leader does! Even though he only scored 2 points on the night, I thought he showed some character with that decision.

Overall it was a good weekend. We took several steps in the right direction. Our focus in practice this week is basically the approach that one weekend is not enough. That just has to be a starting point. We have to build on it each day. I loved our approach and energy along with our unselfishness this weekend. We still have to improve our box outs and rebounding. Too many players take a play off and don't get a body on a man. We have 10 regular season games remaining and we will need to improve each time out to be ready for a tough post-season run.

Joe Linton was cleared to play Friday night but has yet to practice. We will turn Joe loose this week and see how his shoulder responds and decide at the end of the week if he is ready to play this Friday.