Victor Valley Christian vs HCS Stats 2-10-06

Hesperia Christian closed out the 2005-2006 regular season, going undefeated 10-0 for the first time in Agape League play with a tough 57-43 win over a stubborn Victor Valley Christian in Victorville. The Patriots were led by Mike Maerzluft who had 13 points and 8 rebounds. Zach Howard had 12 points and 8 rebounds in support of the victory. It was the Royals who were surprising this night. Their new sophisticated offense seemed to confuse HCS and resulted in many layups and easy rebounding when they missed. They outrebounded the Patriots on their offensive boards, allowing them multiple chances to make the basket. The Royals' Tim Abraham was getting good shots and drives against HCS and put in 12 points. The Royals made 4 three pointers against the defensive-minded Patriots. The Patriots did not put this game away until about 3 1/2 minutes left in the game. It was the second toughest win HCS has had this league season except for the first game versus Bethel Christian. But HCS played tough enough in the second and fourth quarters to get the win.

In the end it was Howard's end-of-game free throw shooting combined with Mike Petersen's and Maerzluft's good play under the basket shooting in put backs and two-footers that determined the outcome of the game. Frosh Jordan Vargas had several three pointers at critical times to stave off VVC' efforts to get back into the game. HCS shot a phenomenal 77% from the charity line tonight, their third best of this season.

However, the Patriot's three point shooting average was 20%, their seventh worst this season. They only got 36 rebounds against a way smaller team. Turnover to assist ratio remained a negative number with 14 turnovers to 13 assists. The first team never put the game away sufficiently to give the second team playing time. And HCS never really made an adjustment defensively to stop Victor Valley Christian on offense.

Now HCS has the long two day wait until Sunday afternoon to know where they will be in the playoffs. But it was a magnificent season, with the team developing and maturing basketballwise each game overall. They have not lost to a single Div V team this season and have not lost a game to anyone since early January. Depending on the seeding brackets and the team's ability to shoot free throws and control turnovers, this Patriot team could be the most successful in modern era HCS history.

The Royals have new coaches and have one of the smallest teams that they have fielded in over four years. No player is over 5' 11". They are fast but because of their size only get one shot per time down court. The Royals have not beaten the Patriots in well over six years and hope to get the upset this evening and a two game winning streak. This will be a good evening for HCS to practice their inside game and perfect it. They also should get a minimum of 40 rebounds tonight. The first team's goal tonight is to have this game over by the half. To not do so would be a failure. They should pick up the defense and stop Roufail, Abraham and Etheridge from doing any scoring much as they did against Messner last Tuesday night. A positive turnover to assist ratio would be a nice goal to attain. This will also be a night to see if HCS can make free throws, no small task for them. HCS should be favored by about 15 points.

Mike Maerzluft led all scorers with 13 pts.. For the second game in a row, Mike petersen got a steal and fast break.

Billy Hague gets 2 pts off a fast break layup. The Royals kept trying to trap Jonny Barton in the corner.

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