Spartans Hit Rough Stretch, Drop Home Opener

After a loss in the Tip-Off Classic final, TJ went against a tough Chaparrall team and couldn’t find an answer. The Spartans had a tough Holiday Classic at Cherry Creek, but are now ready for the home opener on January 4th vs. D’Evelyn.

Thomas Jefferson Boys' Basketball falls to D'Evlyn in its home opener after a tough fight. Photo by Ed Gloor

After allowing 26 points to Thunder Ridge in the first quarter of the Tip-Off final on Saturday December 10th, TJ couldn’t dig themselves out of the hole they created, and lost 68-55.

“We got into early foul trouble and played very flat. Our defense is usually good in the first half, and it just wasn’t there for us,” said Head Coach Grant Laman. TJ shot a very poor percentage from the floor, only hitting 37.5%, and only 25% from 3-point range. Laman noted on the poor shooting, “When the defense doesn’t play well, nothing seems to come together.”

TJ was down as much as 20 points in the game, but was able to make a charge. “Whenever we would get on any kind of run, (Thunder Ridge) would panic and call a quick timeout and start screaming,” said Laman. TJ scored 31 points in one quarter, and cut the lead down to eight.

TJ leaves the Heritage Tip-Off Classic in second place, and disappointed with it. “We wanted first,” said Laman, “but we played our best game against Grand Junction at the tournament.”

TJ then had the weekend to rest, and had to face a tough Chaparrall team. “Chaparrall has two superstar guards,” said Laman. “One already has three 30 point games this season.” In the game against Chaparrall, TJ couldn’t stop one of these guards, Josh Adams, from scoring 29 points, and TJ lost 74-60.

In the early stages of the game, there were a bunch of lead changes and the Spartans couldn’t keep up. “Chaparrall had great depth; we would double team Adams, and one of the guys off the bench would drain a three,” said Laman. Chaparrall drowned any hopes that TJ had when they hit 10 three-pointers in the game. “Every time we changed the defense, they seemed to get around us,” said Laman.

TJ kept it tight most of the game, going into the fourth quarter with a small deficit, at 44-41. Chaparrall had an offensive outbreak and scored 30 points in a quarter. “If you look at the boxscore, we just couldn’t keep up in the end,” said Laman. Chaparrall has been the best team TJ has played this season and the upcoming schedule will be a big test for this Spartan team, as they will be playing some of the top 5A teams in the state.

TJ next played at the Holiday Classic at Cherry Creek and had a rough time, only going 1-3.

TJ started with an impressive win against Legend on December 19, winning 57-53. The Spartans had a very up-and-down game, scoring as much as 18 in a quarter and little as eight in a quarter. Laman noted on the inconsistent play, “I wish I knew what made us so good or not so good.” TJ had some good elements to the game, mainly having the highest number of assists (13)  in a game, than they had all year. “We played a better team game, and helped each other out. I was proud of that,” said Laman.

TJ then played Arapahoe on December 20, regarded as one of the best teams in 5A. “They were a good team. We had to pressure them and play as a team,” said Laman. TJ wasn’t able to take down the basketball giant, and lost 73-65. The Spartans started very slowly, getting out of the first quarter with a score of 23-9. “We started slow and fought back.” TJ outscored Arapahoe 36-28 in quarters two and three. However, TJ couldn’t overcome its bad start and allowed three Arapahoe players (Tim Haas with 27, Shane Jensen with 19, and Zach Kocur with 16) into double digit scoring.

TJ licked their wounds, and limped to the finish of the tournament against Columbine and Cherry Creek. TJ had a lack of offense in both games, only scoring 49 and 51 points respectively. “We left on a three game skid but, bring on 2012!,” said Laman.

The boys then opened the new year and the new gym at TJ with a loss vs. D’Evelyn with a final score of 81-59, and D’Evelyn point guard Luke Stratman dropped 34 on the Spartans.

The game opened well for the Spartans, going on a 9-0 run to get the crowd into the game.  The Spartans then looked flat for the rest of the game. D’Evelyn went on a 30-13 run to end the half against the Spartans.  Stratman deflated the Spartans when he was able to step back and hit a three pointer from a range that hasn’t been seen in a long time.

TJ kept pace in the third after both teams scored 18 points in the quarter and set up what seemed like a might be a great finish to the game. The Spartans began to play a full court press defense and didn’t succeed. Each time they were able to double up on a D’Evelyn player, someone was left wide open under the basket and made the easy score. TJ ended on a slow pace, and had mostly subs in at the end of the game.

The Spartans next play Rock Canyon on Friday, January 6th, to end the 4 game losing streak. The game is at TJ.