The Bradwell Institute basketball teams dropped their games Tuesday at Effingham County in their Region 3-AAAAA openers.
The Tigers had a tough time against the Rebels, 65-52, and the Lady Tigers fell, 57-33.
The Tigers are 0-4, while the Lady Tigers are 2-3. The Bradwell teams will host South Effingham at 6:30 p.m. Friday.
GIRLS
Lady Tiger coach Faye Baker said her relatively younger players still are adjusting to the varsity level of play. She said she did see some improvement against the Rebels.
“Our transition was definitely much better last night because we have been working on that,” Baker said. “Our Achilles heel right now is running our offense and being patient on offense. We are not a very patient team at all.”
The Lady Tigers were led by Brianna Johnson’s 19 points.
Baker said she spoke to the girls about the importance of learning their respective roles and doing their jobs.
“I tried to describe it to them like the ingredients of a cake … you have all these ingredients, and if you leave one out it is going to change the whole taste of that cake,” she said. “We are trying to get them to understand that we are not just looking for people who can score. We are looking for people to be a defensive stopper, looking for people to be a rebounder, looking for those who can assist … all the different components that make up a good team. We are trying to get everyone to understand what their role is.”
She said there is time to make the necessary adjustments to move in the right direction.
“We are only five games in … we are still trying to find the right combination of people … who to start … who to bring off the bench … no one’s position is set in stone right now. It can change from game to game,” she said.
The main focus at practice, Baker said, is to have the players develop overall patience in order to break down the opposing defense.
“We tend to rush … make a couple of passes and then we try and jack up shots,” the coach said. “We want them to get the attitude and understand they need to be a lot more patient … swing the ball more and let that break down the defense more. Once we buy into that concept, our field-goal percentage and point production percentage will rise. Right now, we are not selective enough.”
BOYS
BI coach Rhett Hellgren said the game was much closer than the score indicates.
“It was a two-point game with a little over two minutes left,” he said, adding he was pleased with the boys’ effort. “I told the players we need to bring that kind of intensity to practice, and things will rollover to the game. We have got to get better and the only way to do that is to do it in practice.”
Hellgren said the Rebels were given too many opportunities at the line as well.
“We shot 12 foul shots to their 29, and that was the difference,” he said.
The Rebels made 24 of those 29 free throws.
Box scores:
Lady Tigers 6|5|12|10=33
Lady Rebels 11|12|15|19=57
Brianna Johnson 19, JaVaughna Claridy 6, Alyssa McDuffie 2, Journae Young 2, Autiana Hightower 2, Alena Edwards 1, Zhantel Davenport 1.
Tigers 14|19|9|10=52
Rebels 17|17|10|21=65