Learning experience for St. John the Baptist boys basketball in loss to Christian Brothers Academy
Christian Williams gets by Albany CBA's Jason Vogel in the third quarte on Saturday. Credit: Bob Sorensen
The road to success is rarely a smooth one. If St. John the Baptist boys basketball didn’t know that already, it does now.
Albany’s Christian Brothers Academy defeated St. John the Baptist, 64-41, in non-league Saturday afternoon in West Islip. The size and length of a talented CBA team showed on the glass, outrebounding St. John the Baptist 34-23.
It was too much for the Cougars to overcome, especially for a starting lineup that needs time to sharpen its claws with its two sophomores and one freshman.
“With that (inexperience) you get periods of excitement, and with that you get periods of scratching your head,” coach Jake Ellis said. “Today was a head scratcher, but you got to learn from these things.”
St. John the Baptist scored more points from the free-throw line than they did from the field, which Ellis described as a “recipe for disaster.” Seniors Chris Williams and Jayden Miller led the way by converting 16 of 19 combined attempts. The rest of the team scored just five of its 14 free throws as St. John the Baptist had just nine made field goals and two three-pointers.
“I think we could’ve done a lot better,” Williams said. “We’re a young team so we just have to keep the fire going.”
Williams was a bright spot for the Cougars, scoring a team-high 22 points with three rebounds, an assist and a steal. The senior’s leadership role is obvious, whether he was calling out coverages or relaying notes from Ellis.
“If Chris decides one day to go into making provolone cheese, he will become the best provolone cheese maker in the country,” Ellis said. “He’s just that good at understanding, and his intelligence and maturity is well above anyone on our team, or frankly anyone I’ve coached.”
Losses like these set a standard. Iron sharpens iron is the thinking, even if the results aren’t pretty.
Facing the quick eye of CBA junior point guard Amare Coffil, whose eight assists led all players, breeds defensive discipline. Going against the power and quickness of CBA sophomore Jayden Osinski punishes missteps and mental lapses, showed by the forward’s game-high 27 points and seven rebounds.
“You only learn through failure,” Ellis said. “So, you have to get egg on your face sometimes in order to watch it and say, ‘This is what we talked about on film, and here’s how we’re going to fix it.’”
There are plenty of silver linings to build on, like freshman Justus Gales defensive hustle on a half-court press or the determination Miller showed on the glass, tying Osinski’s seven game-high despite a lengthy CBA lineup.
“We’re a tough team,” Williams said. “We stay together a lot, we’re resilient. That’s what we try to keep in the locker room, no matter what the score reflects.”