Kewanee High School’s freshman boys basketball team lost games this week to Geneseo and St. Bede.
“Slow starts in both games were too much for us to overcome,” Coach Aaron Pratt said.
“Tuesday night (against Geneseo) we were able to battle back and make a game of it, but fell short in the end,” Pratt said. “It was a rough shooting night from deep for us connecting on just one three-point shot. We’re going to have games like that but when they happen our defense has to be able to pick up the slack and it just didn’t happen.”
In Thursday’s game against St. Bede, the Boilers fell behind early, giving up 23 points in the first quarter.
“Our defense really picked up in the second and third quarters holding St Bede to just 10 and 6 points in them,” Pratt said.
“The effort we came out with at the start of the third is where we need to be at the start of games,” he said. “Unfortunately, we had to put so much energy into the comeback that we were gassed by the fourth and St. Bede was able to push the lead back out and keep it there.
“We’re a young team and it’s a learning process,” Pratt said. “Bringing in guys from three different schools everyone is in new roles and we’re still trying to figure that out.
“It’s a great group of kids, I have no doubt we will be able to figure this out,” he said. “Our start to the season schedule wise is always tough so to be sitting at 4-4 right now is a decent place to be.
Pratt said the team will have a “good test” Saturday, returning to St. Bede for a holiday shootout.
“’m excited to see how we respond to this week’s struggles,” Pratt said. “We play a quality Streator team at 9:15 a.m. Saturday followed by another shot at St. Bede at 11:45.”
Kewanee’s leading scorers against Geneseo were: Adiel Arjon with a team high 15 points, Isaiah Ince and Jesus Del Toro with 9 apiece, Leeam Slover with 6 and Dayvon Robinson with 5.
Against St. Bede: Arjon game high 12 points, Ince and Robinson each with 11 and Slover with 8.
