Rust, rust, rust.
It’s early December, and you could tell. Neither team looked like they were top 3 in the state. They both looked, for lack of a better term, average. Both showed flashes, both clearly have talent, but time will be a factor here.
Here are the main takeaways:
The SC rim protectors of Joe Maqatish and Koby Williamson are going to stifle every team they come against. That frontcourt could be playing lower-level college ball right now and nobody would question it.
George Sadi needs help. The supporting cast of DLS is going to have to improve if they’re going to win 3 championships in a row. It felt at times it was Sadi on 5, rather than 5 on 5.
Josh Baugher went down in the first quarter with an undiagnosed knee injury. SC was up 11-7 when he went out and trailed by as much as 11 in the 3rd after he was out. If he is out for an extended period of time, that could be a factor come February, if SC drops some games they otherwise wouldn’t, affecting their RPI.
Neither team ‘wowed’ us. It’s understandable, considering it’s the first game of the season, but it was a very ugly game, with countless unforced and forced turnovers by both teams.
DLS’s press will play a gigantic role for them this year. They have the starters to pull it off and pull it off well, the depth will have to catch up so they can do it for extended periods of time.
SC needs a secondary and tertiary ball-handler to emerge. Josh Baugher going down forced everyone up a spot in the food chain, and oftentimes the DLS press’ success was more because of SC’s lack of backcourt awareness rather than the actual effectiveness of the DLS pressure.
Both of these teams will make Coos Bay. How that happens, however, may be more arduous than previously thought.
