Despite the home crowd and energy, the Park boys basketball team failed to sustain their halftime lead and fell hard 56-65 against New Prague Feb. 12. The Orioles led in the first half until New Prague tore up Park’s defense. As the season comes to an end soon, Park’s record is in a tough spot.
Senior Graham Riggs said the team failed to play the whole game. He said next game, they have to be more dynamic and lift each other as teammates.
“(We) got to have more energy from start to finish and play more as a team,” Riggs said.
According to senior Jaxson McDonnell, the team struggled to make unguarded shots. McDonnell said was the hardest aspect of the game, emphasizing missing open opportunities.
“The toughest part of our game was not being able to make shots, especially wide-open shots. Next game, we’ve got to start hitting our shots,” said McDonnell.
Head coach Arsenio Richardson said effort was the determining factor of the game’s winner. He said New Prague pushed themselves more, while Park, at times, was simply going through the actions.
“They were a little more gritty,” Richardson said. “When the balls were on the ground, they dove. We reached. That is what it boiled down to: they wanted it more.”
Riggs said the team had an issue with making shots, and the team has to make the wide-open shots when given the opportunity. He said the team had a highlight of making a nice try.
“We were missing a bunch of shots,” said Riggs. “We had a good effort.”
According to McDonnell, New Prague dominated the mental part of the game. He said the other team was on the ground, diving for balls, and was motivated to want it more than Park.
“They wanted it more than us, and they were on the floor for more balls than us,” McDonnell said.
According to Richardson, the team needs to make shots, especially the wide-open ones, which were a problem tonight and should be worked on before the next game.
“We’ve got to play with more energy,” Richardson said. “We’ve got to make shots. We got a bunch of wide-open looks, and then settled for jump shots.”
Park boys basketball’s next game is at home against Eastridge Tuesday Feb. 17.
