Saturday, December 13, 2008

JV beats Mt.Vernon

The Flight JV beat Mt. Vernon going away Friday by a 56 - 38 score, winning all four quarters. Conner and DJ led the way, scoring 24 and 16 points, respectively.

Flight scored the game’s first eight points, taking a lead they would never relinquish. Conner started things by putting back a rebound, and Kevin repeated the same feat moments later. Next DJ passed to Conner, who scored, then Kevin again scored off a rebound. Connor made a steal, drove, and was fouled...making one foul shot. Next DJ rebounded, and passed over to Kevin for two. After Will made a nice block, DJ drove in, went airborne, switched hands in midair, and banked the shot in for a basket. Connor’s three-pointer made the score 16 - 11 at the end of the first-quarter.

Jake opened the second period with an assist to DJ, who made another bank shot. Deej kept things going with two foul shots, then a steal and drive for another basket, and moments later another bucket...eight straight points to extent the lead to nine...the largest lead of the half. Josh and Connor both made two straight free throws, and Flight outscored the Mustangs 12 - 10 in the quarter, for a 28 - 21 halftime lead.

Kevin had seven rebounds in the first half. On defense, Will deflected a pass inside, but he sprained his finger in the process. It didn’t effect his play, but he did show rust from missing two games with the flu. Flight courted only eight players, missing Isaac, Joel, Joe, Chase, Paxton, and Jonathan B. Jake played quite well, mixing it up against the larger opponents.

Connor hit a three to open the second half, then added a free throw. Jonathan rebounded and passed to DJ for a basket. Connor was fouled after a steal, and made both foul shots. DJ sacrificed his body, standing his ground on defense, and drew a charge. Mt. Vernon tried a full-court press, but Flight was able to repeatedly break it. Once Will found a wide open Connor with a full-court pass for a basket, extending the lead to 14 points. Later Will inbounded inside to Kevin for a basket, and then recorded his third assist of the quarter, passing out to Jake, who promptly basketed a runner. The quarter ended 42 - 30...Flight had again won the quarter by a 14 - 9 score.

Flight began the final quarter with two DJ three-pointers, that were assisted by Ethan and Connor. Up by 17, Coach Hoffer took a call from Ben, who asked his dad what he was doing. Craig casually replied “We’re finishing up a basketball game.” Then Mt. Vernon scored six straight points of their own, and Craig hung up and called time. Josh got the momentum back, assisting on a Connor basket.

DJ had the ball in the corner, surrounded by three or four defenders. He leaded and made an amazing pass to Josh, wide open in the lane. The pass was so surprising that DJ didn’t know if Josh knew it was coming, so while the ball was in the air DJ hollered “Josh!” Josh did handle the pass easily. Later Josh was fouled, and he made a foul shot. Connor made a basket, then later passed to Josh and cut to the basket. Josh made a perfect pass back to the cutting Connor for the basket. Connor’s two free throws with five seconds left made the fourth quarter score 14-8.

Flight............16...28...42...56
Mt.Vernon...11...21...30...38

Connor: 24 pt, rebound, assist, 2 steals
DJ: 16 pt, 9 rb, 2 assists, 4 steals
Kevin: 8 pt, 7 rb, steal
Josh: 3 pt, 4 rb, 3 assists, steal, block
Jake: 2 pt, 2 rb, assist
Jonathan: 5 rb, assist, 2 steals
Will: 2 rb, 3 assists, 2 steals, block
Ethan: assist, 3 steals

We walked out of the Mt. Vernon gym at 6:05 pm, facing a daunting task: navigating Friday rush hour traffic, in the height of December Christmas shopping/party season, from the often gridlocked Perimeter Mall/Sandy Springs area up to Living Science in Woodstock. I knew several popular routes would be jammed, and I went into full back-routes mode....making the 21 mile commute in an amazing 40 minutes (sorry for the bragging!).

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