After a slow start, Park’s boys basketball couldn’t make the comeback against Mound Westonka. They battled back in the second half, causing an intense last few minutes, but the game ended in a 72-70 loss.
Junior Cleo Mulfinger said only playing a hard second half wasn’t enough to get the win. Mulfinger also said no matter how hard they played.
“We didn’t play to our best ability in the first half and didn’t come out as hard as we needed to,” Mulfinger said. “We couldn’t have done much better, though, as we played a really hard second half, we just couldn’t come out with a win.”
Head coach Arsenio Richardson said they need to have more energy throughout the entirety of the game. Richardson also said they need to implement what they’ve been practicing.
“For the first part we were sleepwalking, we allowed (them) to get too big of lead and let them have too much momentum,” Richardson said. “We battled back, but we have to play harder and execute what we’ve been working on. When we only won two games last year, we have to be able to come out hard right from the tip.”
Mulfinger said they have things to progress at, and they’re looking to improve on multiple different aspects going forward.
“We learned that offensively we can do a lot better, and that communication on defense is super important, which we will work on in practice,” Mulfinger said. “We’re all looking forward to winning games, but also getting better on and off the court and improving our chemistry for later in the season.”
Richardson said they need to learn to play the entire game and start taking everything slowly.
“We got to be locked in for a full game, it can’t just be moments, you find yourself down by too much when you only play in moments,” Arsenio said. “We’re getting better every day, trying to take things one game at a time.”
Junior Micah Curtis said they need to learn to play with passion and togetherness from the start.
“We got to have energy right from the start and play more as a team, playing with way more passion on defense too,” Curtis said. “We learned that we just have to come together, playing for each other and being a family out there.”
Richardson said they’re changing things up this year, and it’s only just the beginning. With some hard competition ahead, they are put to the test
“It’s time to get better, guys are starting to buy in and we are just changing the culture here, so we’re gonna probably take our lumps early, but by the time I talk to you in January, we should be rolling,” Arsenio said. “No disrespect but if you think about rankings, that was our most winnable game, we got some really tough competition in the next 3 games so we’ll see how we do.”
Park boys basketball plays Minneapolis South at 11 am Dec. 9 at Benilde-St. Margaret High School.
