In the last few minutes of the fourth quarter, the bench sprung from their seats to cheer on junior and captain Cyrus Blumenthal after making a three-point basket while getting an and-one shot. While tensions were rising at the end of the game, stands awaited his foul shot that led to the Lions shrinking the gap in the score against the Sandy Spring Friends School Wildebeests.
The Lions boys varsity basketball team lost to the Wildebeests at home on Dec. 3 with a final score of 49-43. With the Wildebeests’ strong offense, the Lions focused on defensive skills such as rebounds and steals which led to many turnovers in their favor. Head Boys Varsity Basketball Coach Ryan Eskow attributed their aggressive defense to the team’s persistent spirit, despite a win or loss.
The Lions supported their teammates throughout the game by chanting “defense” from the bench and from the stands when defending their court. There was also a lot of support from the bench and players. Cheering on the team was a focal point of the game.
“Everyone on the bench had a lot of energy, and I think that helped the team find their rhythm even when the shots weren’t falling,” freshman guard Theo Pearlman said.
In the first quarter, sophomore Dylan Shank scored the first shot to take the lead 2-0. Quickly after, the Wildebeests took the lead 7-2 and the Lions never were able to recover the lead.
Although the Wildebeests had the higher score, the Lions put up a fight, with rebounds being key to the Lions’ defensive strategy. Junior Jakob Lipsky utilized this strategy after a foul shot where he rebounded quickly and brought the ball back for the Lions. At the end of the first quarter, the Wildebeests led 15-9.
“We would go down, make a good play, and they would just come back and get us, get us back, which was pretty hard to come back from,” Blumenthal said. “But I thought we handled the adversity well, and we can use this to build for the future.”
The Lions showed a lot more aggression in the second quarter, with halftime ending 23-17 Wildebeests. Juniors Micah Goldrich and Jesse Fisher both stole the ball as the Wildebeests were going in for a shot. The first point of the quarter was a layup by Goldrich leading the Wildebeests to foul twice on him.
“Defense is all about defending with pride, and taking pride is important,” Eskow said.
At the start of the third quarter, Shank scored a three-point shot making the game 23-20. In the midst of the bench getting riled up about the close game, Goldrich got injured and was subbed by junior Caden Mont. According to Eskow, this change made a huge impact on the game. In Mont’s time on the court during the third quarter, he got a layup, made his first foul shot and made a rebound from a free throw. The third quarter ended 35-32 with the Wildebeests still in the lead.
During the fourth quarter, junior Leo Steindecker and Mont were significant to the Lions’ defense with multiple rebounds and steals. Although the Lions were making a slight comeback, they were still trying to catch up with each basket they made.
Even though the Lions lost, both Eskow and Blumenthal said that what they learned in this game will have a positive impact on how they play moving forward.
“I think that we played well enough to win tonight,” Eskow said. “ It’s one really, really good team that we played against. And we got to be a little bit sharper as we move through the year.”
