On Saturday afternoon, Feb. 20, the boys basketball team fell short against the Sterling Tigers, who are 6-1 on the season. The final score was 31-67. Previously in the week the Reds faced the Strausburg Indians in Strasburg and defeated them in a nail-biter as the final score was 63-60. The Reds were hopeful to go 2-0 on the week as they entered week four of hoops. 

As a team the Reds have been stable from an offensive standpoint with a total of 583 points the boys are shooting a 44%, the amount of 3-pointers are weighing down that percentage as it is a 29%. The highest scorers for the Reds are Scott Grable (21) with 193 points, Walker Martin (23) with 121, and Zac Grable (23) with 76. The boys have had to hurdle some challenges as they have lost some height in the post position, so staying aggressive down low has been crucial to be successful. The two young posts who are both 6’2 Martin and Z. Grable are leading the team in rebounds with a combined total of 113. Cole Schumacher (21) has been strong as he is one of the leading players with assists, he has been a great tool for the Reds. 

The leading scorers for the Reds against Sterling were Zac Grable with seven points, Scott Grable with five points, and Jaden Stone (22) and Martin both with 4 points. In the first quarter of the game it seemed like the Reds were fired up as they were excited to play their rivals from out east, and the score showed, by the end of the first it was 12-15. Sophomore Will Grable (23) said, “The big difference between the first quarter and the second quarter was that offensively they were more aggressive; they had 6 threes on us and we shot below 40%, it’s hard to win games when we aren’t shooting well.” 

Leading the team in rebounds for the Reds was S. Grable with 3 rebounds, and Martin, Z. Grable, and Dirk Duncan (22) with 2, also a slow start under the Rim for the boys. The boys had a total of 12 turnovers in the game, which is a huge momentum changer when playing against a well-established and disciplined team like Sterling. Martin said, “I don’t think that we were playing as a meshed team, I think that we could have spread the ball around more, that way we could have made better decisions with the ball to slow the game down.” When playing a team like Sterling having a bunch of energy on the court is vital as it can make or break a game. Martin said, “I think next game we could come out with more energy because we have a limited amount of fans allowed so we have to generate our own energy which has been an adjustment for us this year.” Covid has thrown many troubles for all high school players and Martin said, “Not having a student section really throws off the vibes that are normally in the gym, but at some point we need to set it aside and figure out how to work as a unit.”

The Reds will take on the University Bulldogs and the Liberty Common Eagles this next week, Feb. 24 and Feb. 26. The Bulldogs are averaging 52 points per game, with 28 rebounds, 8 assists, and 11 steals. Overall it will be a solid match up for the Reds as they have some height for the Bulldogs. Liberty Commons are on a 5 game losing streak, their leading scorer has 36 points on the season, compared to our 193. The match up for this week is pretty fair, make sure to tune into Facebook Live or NFHS to watch the games this week.