Coach's Comments

In what turned out to be an exciting, intense high school basketball game that will help both teams later in the season, our guys rallied from a 12 point fourth quarter deficit to eventually take a one point lead before falling to the #2 AAA ranked Quips. It was a game that featured tremendous athleticism from both teams, and especially for an Aliquippa team that recently won a state football championship that features 4 division 1 players along with a junior linebacker who will be a Division I player who gave us trouble in the post. Our two top players came to play as they battled through an incredibly physical game that resulted in many free throws. Normally, we are an outstanding free throw shooting team, but tonight we hit just 23 of 37 free throws including missing some front ends of 1 and 1's. Nate scored 26 points to go along with 8 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. Isiah scored a double double with 22 points, 10 rebounds to go along with his 6 assists. In the first half, the electric atmosphere and the outstanding Quips defense made us rush on offense which resulted in us scoring only 20 points. We ran a much better offense in the second half, resulting in 39 points. Rees made a number of outstanding plays, and we are still waiting for him to shoot those 3 free throws from when he got knocked down to the floor on his attempt to tie the game, such is life and we move on. Max and John played very good defense, especially during our comeback. We are so proud of our coming together in the fourth quarter to make an incredible comeback that could have very easily resulted in a victory and will help prepare us for the playoffs. Best of all was the disappointment our guys felt in the locker room after the game because they had worked so hard to both prepare and play the game. Go Panthers!