Basketball team chugs forward after loss in league playoffs
After losing to Cedar Crest in the first round of the league playoffs Saturday, the boys basketball team now must wait 10 days for its next game, which will be Tuesday, February 16 at home for the opening round of the District 3 AAA playoffs. The Pioneers (now 21-2) will take on the winner of a play-in game between East Pennsboro (11-10) and Dover (10-9).
That layoff concerns coach John Achille.
"I am not a fan of not having a game for over a week before district playoffs begin," he says. "I was able to line up a scrimmage or two to keep us sharp, so that is a good thing."
The team is familiar with intense stretches, including one period from January 8-19 during which they played seven games in 11 days, but is less familiar with layoffs, having had only one significant dearth of game action, Christmas break.
Admittedly, it is difficult to make surefire conclusions based on length between games with a team that has only two losses, but it may be worth noting that the team's average point differential in games that follow a layoff of more than three days is just 1.5 as compared to a point differential of 17.5 in games that follow a layoff of less than two days.
That said, Achille does not seem overly concerned.
"The guys have been playing great," he says, "and we are looking forward to the district playoffs as the number two seed."
--Benjamin Pontz, LSNews.org Editor-In-Chief
The Pioneers play the best defense in their section, allowing just 49 points per game |
That layoff concerns coach John Achille.
"I am not a fan of not having a game for over a week before district playoffs begin," he says. "I was able to line up a scrimmage or two to keep us sharp, so that is a good thing."
The team is familiar with intense stretches, including one period from January 8-19 during which they played seven games in 11 days, but is less familiar with layoffs, having had only one significant dearth of game action, Christmas break.
Admittedly, it is difficult to make surefire conclusions based on length between games with a team that has only two losses, but it may be worth noting that the team's average point differential in games that follow a layoff of more than three days is just 1.5 as compared to a point differential of 17.5 in games that follow a layoff of less than two days.
That said, Achille does not seem overly concerned.
"The guys have been playing great," he says, "and we are looking forward to the district playoffs as the number two seed."
--Benjamin Pontz, LSNews.org Editor-In-Chief