HTC boys shooting woes lead to setback at Danville

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BY JOHN BOHNENKAMP
PCC SPORTS

DANVILLE — John Hellige knew his team left a lot of points behind.
Holy Trinity’s 43-31 boys basketball loss to Danville on Tuesday was one where by the time the Crusaders starting scoring, it was too late.
The Crusaders (3-2) scored just 22 points in the first 29 minutes, then didn’t score for the next four minutes as Danville (4-0) pulled away. A 7-0 run by the Bears gave them their biggest lead of the night at 35-22, and Holy Trinity was struggling to find an offensive answer.
Holy Trinity only had three 3-pointers in the first 30 minutes of the game, then got three in the final minute of the game in a futile rally. The Crusaders were missing layups and when they did get to the free-throw line, they were just 1-of-6 for the game.
“Offensively, we’ve got to find a way to not be tentative, to look to score,” Hellige, the Crusaders’ coach, said. “That fourth quarter, I told the boys they played with no pressure, and they hit some shots and some things loosened up. We have to have that confidence throughout the game.
“This team is about trying to progress to the next level. But if we’re going to be able to do that we’re going to have to take care of the free stuff. We’re leaving free throws out there. We’re leaving layups. We’re leaving bunnies.”
The Crusaders kept the Bears, who were averaging 60.4 points per game, to just 16 first-half points. But Holy Trinity scored just 12 in the half, four in the second quarter.
“I thought we had a really good game plan defensively, and I thought the kids executed it,” Hellige said. “To hold a team like Danville to 16 points in the first half, I couldn’t expect much more than that. You wouldn’t expect to be down 16-12.
“I told the kids if someone would have told me we would hold Danville to just 43 points, I would have said we would have won. We just didn’t make any shots. We have to attack the basket, not be so tentative.”
Only five Crusaders scored. Vasin Thurman led Holy Trinity with 10 points. Tyler Snaadt had nine. Jason Thurman had five. Chandler Rung had four, and Kadin Medland had three.
Caiden Gourley led Danville with 17 points.

basketball, boys, Danville, Holy Trinity Catholic, htc, loss, Pen City Current, sports, varsity

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