The Morton Indians hosted the Whiteface Antelopes for a district basketball game this past Tuesday night, and the Antelopes came away with a 47-43 win.
The game between the known rivals was an instant classic, as each team traded blows back-and-forth in front of a deafening crowd.
The difference in the game would be the perimeter defense by the Antelopes, which was able to heavily impact the strength of the Indians, their three-point shooting. They held them to 9% from three on the night, only allowing two threepointers made. “They love the three ball and so we talked about it all week in practice,” Antelopes Head Basketball Coach Brandon Flores said. “We talked about switching everything and how you’ve got to show a hand. We said they’re going to shoot some and make a couple. We’ve just got to limit the number of makes they have and then limit their boards.”
They did exactly that, limiting their threes and outrebounding the Indians, 35-31. Another key component in the team statistics was the shooting percentages, which the Antelopes also had the upper hand in, outshooting the Indians 33% to 30% from the field, 21% to 9% from three and 78% to 58% from the free throw line.
Individual standouts for the Antelopes included Isaak Soliz with 12 points, three rebounds, three steals and an assist, Ivaniel Gandara with 11 points, going 9/12 from the free throw line, adding seven rebounds, two assists and a steal, Victor Borunda with 11 points and four rebounds, and Cesar Chavez with six points, five rebounds, three assists and a steal.
Following the win, the Antelopes improve to 10-8 overall and 3-3 in district play, which puts them fourth in the 2A District 5 standings. The Antelopes win was crucial to keep them alive in the district standings to potentially earn a playoff spot down the road.
On the Indians side of the things, the loss drops them to 7-14 overall and 2-3 in district play, which puts them fifth in the 2A District 5 standings. The loss wasn’t ideal, but they’re still well in playoff contention.
It didn’t reflect on the scorebook, but the Indians did a lot of good things in the matchup, including besting Whiteface 14-0 in transition points, 18-12 in points off turnovers, 26-22 in points in the paint, 16-14 in offensive rebounds, 13-5 in steals, 4-0 in blocks and winning the turnover margin by six.
After winning the game in so many ways, the ultimate difference was the Indians abnormal failure to hit threepoint shots, which they couldn’t adjust to enough.
“We have to learn what to do if shots aren’t falling,” Indians Head Basketball Coach Andrew Brockman said. “A loss sucks, especially against a rival, but if you don’t learn from it, it’s worthless. You have to find a way to score when shots aren’t falling, and we still have to figure that out.”
Coach Brockman would also go on to praise Whiteface’s perimeter defense for the struggles, as they refused to give the Indians open looks.
But even with the shooting troubles, the Indians were on the verge of a win, due to several standout individual performances including Brayden Villareal with 11 points, six rebounds and five steals, EJ Rivas with 11 points, three rebounds and three steals, Jaeden Alvarado with nine points, four rebounds, three blocks, a steal and an assist, and Travion Holland with eight points, six rebounds and two steals.
Following the game, the Indians will be back in action over the weekend at Seagraves, while the Antelopes will enjoy a bye.