vs. St. Monica (Pasadena), 1/18/11

Good morning, Coach.

Lost a close one last night, 36-42 to crosstown St. Monica. This was our first game back from break, so our players were understandably rusty. Our scoring 10 points in the first half and St. Monica's shooting the lights out with short jumpers made for a really sad start! We were down 26-10 at the half! But we made some adjustments, most notably on defense. Instead of trying to block every shot and getting out of position as a result, we simply closed out on each shot with a hand in front of the shooter's face.

The added defensive intensity worked, as St. Monica scored just 5 points in the third quarter. We were able to get some fast break points by Andy Wang (who scored 12 points and made two late back-to-back threes!) and Jim Kim, who also made a late three to pull us within just two with three minutes left! But a Southwestern win was not to be. The momentum shifted back to their side, and they had really good free throw shooters to keep them ahead at the end of the game.

Some things we still have to work on: free throw shooting, protecting the ball, boxing out.

Hope all is well with you, Bill!

-A.J.

PS Any more word on the I/C scrimmage?