As sophomore Eli Loeffler steps to the foul line to take his fourth foul shot of the game and the Lions’ 12th in the fourth quarter, JV boys basketball head coach Matthew Landy finds some solace in a lopsided game. Despite the 68-30 loss to the Potomac School Panthers on Jan. 6, Landy was satisfied with the Lions’ ability to adjust to the physicality of their opponents in the second half, despite their size advantage.

After winning the tip-off, freshman Sam Olin sank a 3-pointer followed by a layup a minute later, putting the Lions ahead 5-3. A midrange jumper from Loeffler and a 3-pointer from freshman Jake Forseter helped the Lions keep the game close. 

However, defense for the Lions wasn’t coming easily, as they were dominated by the Panthers’ tall centers, who made many shots in the paint. By the end of the first quarter, the Panthers were leading with a score of 19-10.

The Lions offense didn’t fare any better in the second quarter, as they only scored points coming from two foul shots by sophomore Tani Kastan. Meanwhile, the Panthers continued to widen the scoring gap, leading 41-12 as the half concluded.

During the Lions’ halftime locker room meeting, sophomore Hillel Goldberg said that Landy highlighted the importance of being physical and boxing out the defense. 

“The message was [that] the other team is a big team, [so] we’re slightly disadvantaged,” Goldberg said. “However, we need to push through and we need to be more physical…we’ve got to go back [with] high energy.”

This physicality was evident in the second half. The Lions were driving and putting up shots in the paint. Even if they missed, their mindsets were different, and Landy was content with their adjustment on both offense and defense, where they had switched from a man-to-man defense to a zone formation.

“I think the boys did a good job at making that adjustment and switching to a zone, and it just allowed us to minimize the size advantage that they had over us,” Landy said. “I think it worked a lot better in the second half.”

The players felt this change too. On defense, the Lions, led by junior Aviv Stein’s three steals, were able to secure more rebounds and force more turnovers than they did in the first half.

“I think we definitely did a lot more in the second half,” Olin, who led the team with 12 points and 6 rebounds, said. “We were driving a lot more, being a lot more physical, getting maybe a few more foul calls.”

These foul shots were a big reason the Lions were able to keep the second half much closer, scoring 18 points to the Panthers’ 19 over the last two quarters. Freshman Gabriel Lasensky and sophomore Jack Grunberger both made foul shots of their own, in addition to the ones made by Olin, Kastan, Goldberg and Loeffler.

By the end, the Lions’ second half performance was not enough, and their record fell to 3-2 after this non-conference game. Landy stressed that despite the loss, every game can be a learning experience and a chance for the team to grow, especially as  the end of the season and playoffs approach.

“As I told the guys after the game, this is a great opportunity for…[them] to buy into what myself and [Assistant Coach Matthew] Jacobson are teaching them and working on [with] them in practice so that we can improve upon the things that we did not do well today and hopefully, moving forward, play a much better and more complete brand of basketball,” Landy said.