Carlmont varsity boys basketball took home the only win in the quad header against the M-A Bears on Jan. 19, beating them 46-42.
The Scots had a rough start, with the M-A making the first basket and Carlmont picking up two fouls within the first two minutes of the quarter. They quickly recovered, with shooting guard Aleccio Blythe and point guard Camden Ngo both hitting three-pointers.
The first quarter ended with the Scots at 17, their highest-scoring quarter of the game, and the Bears at 10.
The second quarter started out slow, as the Scots having a hard time getting into their offenses.
“We needed to work on our execution and just plays in general, as sometimes we didn’t know where to go or what to do,” said junior guard Josh Lam.
Both teams played very well on defense, although M-A tended to get many of the rebounds.
“We could really improve on being more aggressive rebounders,” said senior forward Zachary Lefer.
The Scots made two three-pointers in the sixth minute, making their lead 27-20 by halftime.
The third quarter was the highest-scoring quarter for the Bears, with them making 17 points, and the Scots only making six. By the middle of the third quarter, M-A had a five-point lead. Carlmont closed the gap to three points with Blythe making a two-point tip-in with three seconds left in the quarter.
In the last quarter, the Scots picked up the intensity. In the first 30 seconds, Blythe and junior Franklin Kuo made two threes. The Scots defense really picked up in the fourth quarter, with M-A only making five points in this quarter.
“I think it was our defense that really kept us in the game,” said head coach Ron Ozorio. “There was kind of a cold stretch there between the end of the second quarter and the beginning of the third quarter where we weren’t scoring anything, but our defense really kept us in. It was a group effort.”
In the last minute of the quarter, M-A sophomore Jacob Sutton made a three, making it a two-point game. With 18 seconds left, M-A starter one got two fouls, bringing MA to five fouls. Blythe ended up shooting twice and making two out of his four free throws, increasing the Scots lead to four points.
The Scots are now 3-1 in league games and will play the Hillsdale Knights on Jan. 24. Ozorio is hoping to clean up some things in preparation for the next game.
“It was a pretty sloppy game for us. The energy of the guys kept them in it, I could tell they wanted it, but it was sloppy,” Ozorio said.
Kuo brings out that the team needs to keep practicing hard to get ready for Hillsdale.
“We can prepare for next game by keeping up our intensity in practice all week, and continuing to stay focused on our goals as a team,” Lefer said.
Last season the Scots played the Knights and lost 53-45. Hillsdale is currently 0-4 in league games.
“Every game, no matter the record, especially when we go away, is a challenge,” Ozorio said.
