Amistad Basketball – Seniors Fair Well

Well, we lost 3 out of our last 5 without two of our starters this past week, but the battle continues on into the post-season for Amistad Basketball.  As a team, we finished 13-7 this season – seven more wins than last year.  However, after our final win of the season on Wed. at Goodwin Tech., we all agree that we have yet to really access our full potential as a team.  And that we were capable of a much better overall regular season record.  Hopefully, that means that we are poised, but not satisfied; that our best basketball is still ahead of us, and that there plenty of more games to be played.

But we also agreed that we have gone through quite a bit this season as a team – from losing players from our original roster, to 1 game suspensions for players, to injuries that knocked out our leading scorer for the past 4 games, and our point guard from even before that.  But no matter what the ups and downs have been – the players that have remained have come together.   And I can tell that they have bonded as a team, and that they believe in themselves and each other no matter what the ups and downs have been.

A team’s record doesn’t really matter much when it comes to the postseason anyway.  The regular season is over, and really shouldn’t be thought about much anymore.  It’s what’s in front of you that matters, because anyone can beat anyone on any given night in high school basketball. 

 Every year, teams with very strong regular season records go down early. And every year, some teams that barely squeak into the tournament go far.  That’s part of the excitement of the postseason and the CIAC Tournament.  It’s the team that commits to playing most like a team that triumphs in the postseason.  

Last year, we weren’t ready to win in the postseason. 

This year, we will be. 

Amistad Basketball - Con"CUSS"ed

After a 5 Game Winning Streak, the Amistad Varsity hit a rough patch this past week due to late season illnesses and Two Starters suffering concussions in back to back to games.  In Friday’s loss to Stratford, Amistad was forced to play a man down, as one of the top 5 leading scorers in the area, Chris Gibbs, was dealt the flu.  Nevertheless, the Amistad Squad competed fiercely from the getgo and played very aggressive, solid man to man defense.  But without Chris Gibbs to start, and losing another starter by the finish – we didn’t have enough in the tank to put the ball in the basket as much as we needed to win. 

I could live with the loss, though, as we always tell our players – “You can have a bad offensive night…  But you can’t have a bad defensive night!’

However, there was a pretty serious issue to deal with during and after the Stratford game:  the amount of contact that was allowed throughout the game led to at least 10 no calls on block/situations – where neither call was made, not a whistle was blown, and our Starting Point Guard, Meech Barfield, suffered a concussion while taking a charge. 

I have played, coached, refereed, and have been around basketball my whole life.  Concussions are rare.  As are technical fouls on Amistad’s Head Coach.  But as the game went on, players knew that blocks and charges weren’t going to be called – so the amount of contact just became exceedingly dangerous.  After another egregious “No Call” – it was probably my tone, though it could have been my choice of words, that magically found a way to get the refs to somehow blow their whistles.  Either way, I couldn’t witness the amount of contact that was being allowed by the Board 9 Officials without doing something to protect my players.  

 It was my first Technical Foul of the season, and I deserved it, but if anyone had seen the tape of the game, it would be a great example for future referees to watch how a game should NOT be called at the high school level.   I even went as far as to call the Head of Board 9 officials the day after the game in order to report the issue of safety being a concern for my players.  Never have I had to do that after a game. 

In an unrelated, but coincidental incident, Chris Gibbs was also sidelined after suffering a concussion in our following game vs. Gilbert.  So we’ll see how Amistad responds from the loss.  Next Game is Friday at Morgan of Clinton, followed by our last regular season game next Wed. at Goodwin Tech. 

With 2 Starters down and 2 regular season games to go, The Amistad Program is actually looking forward to closing out the regular season and getting some much needed rest prior to the State Tournament beginning in Early March. 

Amistad Wolves – Grit their Teeth!

Well, the boys have stepped it up a notch in recent play.  The defensive efforts have been strong, and I believe that they are seeing how much the Defensive side of the ball can create offensive opportunities in transition. 

Monday’s 20 point win over formerly undefeated Goodwin Tech was a good step for the Amistad Program.  Last season, Goodwin Tech bounced us out of the CIAC State tournament before going to the quarterfinals.  Amistad was lead by a 30 point performance by Chris Gibbs, 22 from Darien Barfield, and 16 from his twin brother Demetrius.  The team managed to combine for 19 steals throughout the game., and our guards are beginning to manage the game better and are showing more confidence in their decision making and leadership on the floor. 

Wednesday, we were at home against Eli Whitney again, and prevailed 78-49.  It was another good win.  Chris Gibbs led all scorers again with 23, including a couple of thunderous dunks, and Darien Barield had 22 again.  It was the first time that we were able to get all players on the team into a single game, and it was great to see everyone contribute.

Amistad stands at 11-4 thus far, with a trip to Stratford on Friday evening. 

Game time:  7:00 PM!