Southern Christian rolling with the punches
The Southern Christian Patriots are in the dawn of their first ever basketball and, the growing pains are real.
The middle school teams and the varsity boys and girls played last week. Facing Wynnbrook Christian School on Dec. 15, the middle school girls nearly captured their first win, and the middle school boys eked out a hard fought victory.
Coach Jason Scott said the girls game was “evenly matched,” but his middle school girls lost to Wynnbrook 14-10. The leading scorers for both team were tied as center Lauren Gooden led the way for the Patriots with 4 points and seven rebounds. It was the girls’ first real game and Scott said the game provided “good experience.”
The boys middle school team enjoyed more success against Wynnbrook, beating them in a nail bitter, 23-21. A fourth quarter rally helped the Patriots get their first win. “It was a big deal for us,” Scott said. “That was huge for the boys.”
Jagger Scott led the team with a double-double, scoring 12 points and pulling down 12 rebounds. And his brother, Jed Scott added 8 points and eight rebounds.
Next up on the Patriots’ schedule was Wiregrass Homeschool in Dothan. Along with the middle schoolers, the varsity teams were in action. However, unlike the close games before, the growing pains that were featured in this game had to be hard to swallow.
The middle school boys played Wiregrass the closest, losing 36-46. “This one was encouraging,” Scott said. Jagger again led the way with a double-double and Jed put in 13 points himself – that was about it on the scoring. The middle school girls had the definition of a “learning” game. It was the press that outdid them as the girls only got off 12 shots and fell by 35 points.
“This team pressed the entire game, all their teams,” Scott said. “We just could not the ball down the court. So we were not ready.”
The JV boys played next and saw similar unfortunate results. The Patriots played through injuries. Middle schooler Brandon Williams stepped up to play for the JV and while his contributions of eight rebounds were noticeable and admirable, it wasn’t enough, as Southern Christian fell 51 points.
“I only have two kids on the JV that have ever played basketball before,” Scott said. “We got tore up.”
The varsity boys were up next, and the results continued to go against the Patriots. They again struggled against the press and were outclassed despite their effort. “It was a long hard night,” Scott said.
The week moves the varsity boys record to 0-2.
Southern Christian plan to be back in action on Jan. 5 against Wiregrass once again. The game is supposed to be held at the Covington Rec Center in Opelika, but the gym may not be ready in time due to some vandalism that occurred recently. If the game against Wiregrass in cancelled, the Patriots will next be back in action against Wynnbrook on Jan. 7.
“You take your wins and take your losses, and you have to be able to swallow both pills,” Scott said. “It’s going to get better.”