Sports
Huskies Claw Back but Fall Short in Loss to Bullis, 53-50
Down at the half, Flint Hill builds a second-half lead that slips away in the fourth quarter
In a seesaw contest Wednesday night, the opened their 2010-2011 account with a loss to the visiting Bullis Bulldogs, 53-50.
Reflecting on the result, Flint Hill head coach Rico Reed remarked, "I'm disappointed in the result but I'm pleased with our effort. I think I saw a lot of good things. We did some things well enough to win the basketball game but we weren't able to put together 32 minutes of consistent basketball."
Following a neck-and-neck opening eight minutes that concluded with the teams knotted at 15, the contest embarked on a pendulum-like trajectory, swinging from a run for one team to the other before ultimately settling in favor of the visitors.
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The guests from Bullis opened the second quarter with an 8-0 run to stake a 24-17 lead. It seemed as if whoever took shots for the Huskies, be it junior captain Troy Thomas or fellow guard Trevor Ogundepo, failed to find the bottom of the net. The only shot from the field that found the target came from the hands of sophomore Jerrod Reed, with all four remaining points coming from the free-throw line.
Flint Hill came storming back after the Huskies went into the intermission facing a 30-23 deficit. The Huskies went on a 17-4 run in the third quarter and went into the final stanza ahead 40-34.
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Junior guard Mo Berchie paced Flint Hill offensively with 14 points, and Rico Reed also singled out Ogundepo for praise: "He only scored two points, but did a great job defensively."
The Huskies widened their edge to 12 points with approximately five minutes remaining before momentum switched back to the visitors. With Flint Hill ahead 46-34, the Bulldogs went on a 19-4 run to seal the victory.
"We struggled, turned the ball over and missed some key shots, and Bullis used a nice run to overtake us and take the lead," Rico Reed explained.
Heading into their own tournament this weekend, the Huskies' coach evaluated his squad's performance on both sides of the ball. Reed pointed to 14 assists on 19 baskets and said, "We did a good job offensively but we had a couple offensive mistakes, turnovers, in the fourth quarter, and a couple defensive errors with regards to boxing out and rebounding the basketball."
Flint Hill plays again on Friday in the Flint Hill Tip Off Tournament. The two-day tournament also includes Blue Ridge, John Paul the Great and St. Anne's-Belfield.
Bullis will play again Thursday with an away game at Good Counsel set to start at 6 p.m. The Bulldogs will then return home Saturday for a 5 p.m. game against Episcopal.