Good Counsel’s Varsity basketball team kicked off their WCAC season with a game against St. John’s Cadets (3-2). SJC had lots of young talent to bring to the table, with two players already committed to Division 1 schools. The Falcons, led by Coach Kissal, have had an average start to the season facing many great teams.

The Cadets took a commanding lead over the Falcons early in the game.  Both teams played aggressively, although the Falcons could not make most of their shots and had a number of fouls. The defense was able to stop and shut down many of SJC’s opportunities to score, but SJC still slipped enough through the cracks, ratcheting the score up to 3-17 by the end of the first quarter.

This streak was unchanged in the second quarter. The Cadets pushed their lead to 7-31 by the end of the half, with the Falcons still unable to make many of their shots and free throws.

In the second half, The Cadets continued to shoot on us, building their lead. However, our own offense improved tremendously. They began to communicate more and pass around the arc, leading the Falcons to score 29 points in the second half compared to only 7 in the first. The game ended with a final score of 36-77, with SJC on top.

TAKEAWAY: Failure to make their shots early on is what started the downfall of the Falcons. Many contested shots were missed, and SJC led a tough defense that snuffed out most of the opportunities that GC had. The Falcons improved on this in the second half, although they had to sacrifice their defense to score more points. Working on the ability to balance the two will certainly lead to greater success for the Falcons.