Park boys basketball faced off against Holy Family Dec. 11. Park started the game intensely, taking a lead and not looking back, ending the game 88-53. During the game Micah Curtis reached the 1000 point benchmark.
Head coach Arsenio Richardson said the team played collectively and focused on better defensive strategy whilst keeping Holy Family under 60 points.
“Today we played super unselfishly, we shared the ball and we held them under 60,” Richardson said. “Anytime you can hold a team under 60 that can shoot the ball, you know it’s going to go well for us.”
Senior Cleo Mulfinger said the team emphasized their defensive strategy while playing, which led to the game’s success. He said the team had been emphasising defense a lot during their practices.
“The key factor (to the win) I would say was defense, (in the) first half it let up a bit much, but in the second half we were locking it down,” Mulfinger said. “In practice, we worked on our defense every day.”
Senior Micah Curtis said there was strong teamwork and defensive strategy during the game that contributed to the team’s win. He said their success eventually allowed the team to have more fun with the game.
“The game went well, everyone was sharing the ball, playing good defense, playing hard and we had a lot of energy,” Curtis said. “Our defensive pressure, forcing them to throw turnovers and freak out, that turned into dunks and layups, and we started having some fun.”
Richardson said the team is focusing on improvement and teamwork every day, keeping in mind that their future games are with ranked teams within the state.
“(Our goal) is to continue to get better every day, and not overlook anyone. We got our next five games against top teams in the state,” Richardson said. “You gotta take it a day at a time, we gotta worry about us getting better, playing hard, playing for one another and then playing together.”
Mulfinger said he involved his teammates in the plays, and that passing the ball helped with the game’s result. He said the passing also helped with the team’s chemistry during the game.
“I passed the ball to my teammates so they all could succeed, (our) communication was good, we all talked well, and the teamwork was good,” Mulfinger said. “When you pass the ball you play good, (overall) the chemistry is great.”
Curtis said they came into the second half of the game swinging and decided to keep the pressure on the other team with a 19 point lead in the second half.
“When we came right into the second half, we decided we’re not going to let them score anymore, so we started locking them up, and we held them (to) 19 points in the second half,” Curtis said.
Richardson said he’s looking forward to the team facing tough teams, both non-conference and in the conference. He said the team’s goal is to build up all aspects of the team’s abilities.
“(We’re going to) continue to get better, we got our next five games against really tough opponents, and then after that, we got a couple non-conference games that also have really good teams and then we get into conference,” Richardson said. “We’re trying to build everything up, so when we get to the conferences we’re ready to roll and to be our best by March.”
Park boys basketball faces off against Park Center at 2:45 p.m. Dec. 14 at Totino-Grace High School.
