It was a slow start for the senior boys Aces basketball team, as they played their first game at home, Wednesday night.
The boys faced the Bentley Panthers in the home opener of the 2017-18 basketball season, and lost 74-34.
The Panthers were strong on the offence right out of the gate, and easily made it through and around the Aces defences.
In the first quarter of play the Aces were only able to pick up four points.
Dekker Gillett put the Aces on the board with the team’s first point of the game, followed by one more point from Lucas Obst. Peace Won rounded out the the first quarter of the game with the team’s first successful two-pointer.
Meanwhile, the Panthers were hot on their feet. The team was able to grab 17 points in the first quarter, leaving the Aces far behind.
The second quarter was more of the same, with Peace the only player to make it down the court to earn another two points for the Aces.
The Panthers’ fast and heavy handling of the ball earned the visiting team another 20 before the end of the first half.
The Aces were trailing by 31 points at half-time, with a score of 37-6.
After a half-time pep talk, the Aces came back on the court in the second half like a different team.
The ball handling, passing and shots on net were cleaner and with a purpose.
In the third quarter the Aces were able to keep pace with the Panthers’ juggernaut plays, picking up more than double the points the boys had scored in the entire first half.
Obst started the second half for the Aces with a beautiful thee-point shot. Following the three-pointer, the team started to actually play, and No. 10 for the Aces, Kolton Glenn, even picked up another three-pointer halfway through the third quarter.
Zach Casper, No. 5 with the Aces, ended the quarter with first first goal, and ended the quarter with the Aces picking up 19 points.
With one quarter left to play the Aces still trailed behind the Panthers, who picked up 25 points after half-time. The score was 62-25 with one quarter left to play.
Despite an united effort on the Aces front, the team was not able to stop the Panthers who picked up another 12 points in the final.
Even with another three-pointer by Glenn, the Aces were too far behind to make up the difference on the scoreboard.
With a final score of 74-34, the Aces lost their first home game of the season by 40 points.
Leading the team in points scored in the Dec. 6 game was Won and Glenn, both earning 10 points for the Aces. Following the two was Jace Healing who scored five points during the game.
Eckville will next play at home on Dec. 13 versus Koinonia.
megan.roth@eckvilleecho.com
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