Seeley Lake seventh-grader Johnnie Stout puts up two of his four points to lead the Eagles in the A game.
Potomac eighth-grader Garrett Schmill goes for two of his 11 points. Schmill led the Pioneers in the A game.
Potomac eighth-grader Zane Benedict made a break away for two of his 10 points in the A Game.
Eagle sixth-grader Cadence Mauldin pulls down one of his many rebounds in the B Game.
Fifth-grader Tyler Haines goes for two of his five points. He led the scoring with the Eagles with teammate sixth-grader Aydin Bayford in the B Game.
Seventh-grade Eagle Wyatt Stout broke the stalemate for the Eagles after dropping in two point mid-way through the second quarter.
Seventh-grade Eagle Kayden Thornsberry's defense is all ball as he catches Pioneer Emmett Zander and prevents his layup.
Eighth-grader Chase Haines puts the first two points on the board for the Eagles early in A game.
SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Elementary Eagles boys basketball season is in full swing as they took on the Potomac Pioneers at home Nov. 20. Coaches Brett Haines and Tylen Dial said they have been spending a lot of time on the fundamentals and working with the young teams.
There are 25 players out this year. Assistant Coach Dial said the focus has been on the fundamentals –dribbling, shooting and passing. They have started working on some situational stuff and running plays.
The A Squad is young with only three eighth-graders playing on the team of 13. Head Coach Haines said there is a lot of maturation that happens between seventh and eighth grade so it has been a harder season than in the past. The players are also smaller than most of the other teams.
"If you are going to be short and small, you've got to learn to play aggressive and tough," said Haines. "We've improved. [The game against Potomac] was not a shining moment. We can play better than that; we just didn't."
The B Team was only down by three points at the end of the first half. However, Potomac pulled away in the second half scoring 15 points to the Eagles' five. The final score was 13-26.
Tyler Haines and Aydin Bayford led the Eagles with five points each. Austin Gonzalez put up two points and Julius Steele added one.
For the Pioneers, Owen Dry scored nearly half of Potomac's points followed by Brandon Leathers sinking 7. Keith Zander and Hunter Preston each added two points with Mateo Yedinak getting one.
In the A game, Potomac put up a quick four points. A basket by Chase Haines was the Eagles' only response in the first half as the Pioneers increased their lead 2-13.
In the first few minutes of the second half, Sawyer Shelmerdine sank one of his free throws. However, it wasn't until half way through the second half that Wyatt Stout broke the stalemate. With a 19 point spread, the Eagles weren't able to make up the difference. The Pioneers come out with the win 11-29.
Johnnie Stout led the Eagles with four points. Chase Haines, Wyatt Stout and Kaden Thornsberry each added two and Shelmerdine added one.
Garrett Schmill led the Pioneers with 11 points closely followed by Zane Benedict with 10. Wyatt Zander, Lou Cheff and William Philliber added two points each and brothers Emmett and Keith Zander each sank one of their free throws.
"My kids haven't seen a 1-2-2 half court zone trap so we haven't prepared for that. It was something we had to handle and deal with during the game and adjust to," said Haines who added the Eagles also struggled with passing. "It was a learning experience for them."
Tournaments start Dec. 9. SLE will be in the small school bracket for Copper League.
"We are just going to keep working hard until the end of the season and try and improve," said Haines. "We've got some good kids. I'm encouraging them to put in a little extra time. We'll just keep working our game and our fundamentals. Hopefully at tournament we come around and we are ready to go."
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