We farewelled Roncalli High School this morning and headed off on a four hour coach ride through the beautiful Nebraskan country side with snow, corn stubble and cattle for as far as you can see. After stopping at a typical American roadside dinner for lunch, we arrived in the small country town of Ravenna ( http://www.ravenna.k12.ne.us/ ) with a population of 1340 people. The town is “rural America” with a small main street and many of the boys being billeted on farms. We were warmly welcomed by the Athletic Director at Ravenna High School, Paul Anderson, and the boys quickly got into their preparation routine for our third game on tour.
The Freshman team recorded our first win on tour! They were up 10-5 at the end of the first quarter and lead 18-14 at the main break. In the third quarter the boys stretched the lead out to 31-18 and finished strongly with the final score 45-30. Jayden Tanevski and Jake Gebron were hot with their outside shooting and Connor Orr played outstanding in defence. All boys contributed to what was a great first up win for the Freshman. Comments from Jayden Tanevski after the game – “We had good ball movement, great team play and our high percentage shooting really helped us.”
Our Junior Varsity team continue to show great determination. They were hanging in there early but were outmuscled by their opponents. Lucas Catts finished the game strongly and Jonathan Webster boxed-out well, grabbing some good rebounds. The period scores were: 12-23; 27-47; 40-60 and the final score 46-72.
The Freshman and Junior Varsity games were held on the second court. As we arrived at the main court for the Varsity game it was clear that this was going to be a big game. The whole town were in the stands to support their team and the atmosphere was unbelievable. We were also introduced to an Australian now living in Nebraska who travelled up for the game. Hopefully many supporters back home were able to watch footage of the game via the live stream.
We came across a unique style of super-paced basketball with intense full court pressure and Ravenna constantly rotating players to keep the frantic pace of the game up. Minus another starter, Luke Tucker with an ankle injury, this tested our depth as we struggled with their speed. This was also expected considering the boys were playing their third game in four days. We will only benefit from playing this sort of team which will improve our role-players for the second round of CAS. Jaden Weldon was simply outstanding with 24 points. Jed Maher played his best game of the tour with a sold second half effort. Liam Thomas, after a physical game the previous night, showed great resolve in keeping up with Ravenna’s relentless pressure.
All players made a contribution throughout the game. Like in previous games, we were strong for extended patches of play but we are struggling to put four consistent quarters together. The quarter scores were: 7-30; 18-43; 26-57 and the final score 47-70. For all players, and boys and staff in the stands, the sense of “occasion” that this game had will be remembered for many years to come. There were a number of reporters conducting interviews after the game and we hope to be able to send through copies from articles in tomorrow’s newspapers in our next post.
As the boys headed off with their host families after the game we were told that the temperature in Ravenna the night before dropped down to minus 20 degrees celsius. But don’t worry, the overwhelming warmth of the American hospitality will get them through the night I’m sure.
Best wishes.
You can find a full set of today’s photos and videos at the following link:
Best wishes.
