Final Score: De La Salle 81 Oregon Episcopal 61
In the two types of turnovers, giveaways and takeaways, OES suffered from one much more than the other tonight. The good news is that it’s the one they generally have more control over, making it correctable. The bad news is that it’s the one they generally have more control over, making this–despite the final margin suggestion otherwise–a game the Aardvarks could've won.
A defense taking the ball away is one thing, creating enough pressure and being in the right place at the right time has been the Knight’s calling card for the better part of a decade, but what killed OES wasn’t the pressure in the backcourt, but mishaps in the front court. The Aardvarks continuously broke the Knights' press, frankly easily, in the back court and ending up with numbers in the frontcourt only to then have passes skip off players hands, end up losing the ball on the way to the rim, or most commonly missing a contested but makeable layup. Flatly put, the opportunities were there to take control of the game for OES.
De La Salle won the game, and Israel Hill Jr. is really starting to impress, but the feeling that OES lost before De La Salle won is unmistakable.