On Thursday, Jan. 16, the Archie Williams boys varsity basketball team took on the Encinal High School Jets for a non-league game at their home court. The Falcons looked to bounce back from their loss against the Branson School, which they achieved. Archie Williams blew away the Jets with a powerful 85-43 win.
The Falcons began the quarter with impressive defense and even stronger offense, opening up their scoring with a three-pointer from junior Gabe Cerio in the fifth minute. The Jets countered quickly to keep the score tight as the Falcons turned the ball over multiple times. With both sides holding each other off, the quarter ended with Archie Williams leading 16-12.
“I think we turned the ball over way too much, but we can learn from that and build for the next game,” said Archie Williams senior guard Dante Stallone.
The Falcons came out strong in the second quarter, firing shot after shot, until sophomore Kingston Weingberg shot a three-pointer to increase Archie Williams’ lead. The Jets tried to match and keep the score tight,but the Falcons’ defense held them off with a block from junior Alex Hamblet.
Dante followed this sequence with two three-pointers of his own in the fifth and sixth minutes of the quarter. With newfound energy, Archie Williams ended the first half with a 38-28 lead and looked to keep it up through the rest of the game.
“Our main focus right now is to be consistent for 32 minutes. It’s going to take mental toughness in order to do that, to maintain composure no matter what challenges or adversity, whether it’s tough calls or a raucous crowd,” said Archie Williams head coach Russell Bauer.
While Encinal came out strong in the third quarter, the Falcons continued to open up their lead. With a series of blocks from the Archie Williams defense, the Falcons stopped the Jets from making a comeback. They gained momentum with back-to-back three-pointers from both Kingston and Dante.
“I think we played well. We had some adversity with the ref, but we just had to stay solid, keep our head down, and not let anything get in our way,” Alex said.
After another three from Dante in the sixth minute, the Falcons ended the third quarter with a lead of 66-39, almost tripling their lead from the first quarter. After wearing down the Jets’ defense, the Falcons continued to surge their lead, while allowing Encinal few to no scoring opportunities. Archie Williams stayed consistent through the fourth quarter and finished the game winning 85-43.
The Falcons look forward to their next game Saturday, Jan. 18, against Justin-Siena High School and then aim for their first league win against Terra Linda High School Tuesday, Jan. 21, at home.
“The boys are feeling good. We have an opportunity to really gain some momentum going back into MCAL next week… We’re just trying to take it one day at a time, get better every day, and have as much fun as we can,” Bauer said.
