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| Junior Jadan Battle (2) led WCA with a game-high 23 points. |
Waterbury Career Academy boys basketball has nine wins this season, but it could be a lot more.
That has been a point of frustration with the Spartans and head coach Ronan O’Leary. For all of the wins WCA has had, there have been woulda-coulda-shoulda losses that are exasperating.
One of those losses occurred Thursday night at home, 63-59 to St. Paul. The Spartans dropped to 9-9 with the defeat.
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| Junior Marquan Watson puts up two of his 14 points. |
“We got to find consistency,” O’Leary said afterward. “That’s the sign of a young team, which is what we are.”
A young team with plenty of potential, which makes the close losses more frustrating. O’Leary said he’s not sure which team is going to show up. If WCA made a couple more plays Thursday, it could have won.
“You create your own breaks with extra effort, and [St. Paul was] just a half step quicker,” O’Leary said.
The Spartans struggled with their outside shooting, and they also had trouble getting the ball inside against the Falcon zone defense. In order to have success against the zone, a team must get inside touches.
“We weren’t getting enough baskets in transition,” O’Leary said. “They slowed us down.”
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| Head coach Ronan O’Leary discusses a call with referee before an inbound. |
Junior Jadan Battle had a game-high 23 points, and he tried to push the pace as his own one-man fast break. Sophomore Matt Torres scored 15 points while fellow sophomore Marquan Watson tallied 14. WCA could have used more inside from Watson, but he had to have the ball in his hands to do it.
The Spartans were down nine points early in the fourth quarter, but used a pesky full-court press to cut the deficit to 58-55 in the final 20 seconds. WCA got within three points two more times, but couldn’t close the gap.
“We just got to make that extra play,” O’Leary said, citing coming up with loose balls as an example.
The Spartans have another chance to get it right, next Monday against a Kennedy team they lost to in overtime the first time they met. WCA ends the regular season next Wednesday against Derby.
