After a back and forth, bustling rivalry game against Benilde-St. Margaret’s, Park was defeated 85-61 Jan. 20. Regardless of the loss, sophomore Micah Curtis said the game was a good learning opportunity for future games.

“Tonight we took a step in the right direction despite the loss,” Micah Curtis said. “We’re still figuring things out and we’re a young team. In terms of defense, we’re just learning to play better with one another.”

According to junior Julian Lambe, the biggest factor that led to the teams’ downfall was lack of organization and communication throughout the game.

“We can definitely improve our turnovers, actually listening to the coach and sticking to a game plan next time,” Lambe said. “Our plays weren’t being executed right and the coach ended up coming over like 15 times throughout the game because no one could get it right.”

During the preparation process, sophomore Marley Curtis said a lot of the practices dialed into conditioning and stamina.

“Before the game, we did a lot of running, so much running we didn’t even touch the basketball a couple practices, mostly to get us mentally prepared and conditioned,” Marley Curtis said. 

Even though the score didn’t reflect the effort, Micah Curtis said he was satisfied with how the team played for the most part but there are other components that needed to be revised. 

“The game started off well and we were all working hard, but there was no communication, so we started to get flat towards the end,” Micah Curtis said. “We can always do better at being less selfish and there more for each other.”

According to Lambe, the spirit of the team was lifted and the team is excited for the next couple of games. 

“Even though we lost, everyone is still in a pretty good mood and our motivation is lifted,” Lambe said. “We’re going to come out hungry for our next game and we’re going to go up from there.”

Boys’ basketball is geared up to face New Prague 7 p.m. Jan. 24 at the Parks High School Main Gym.