After having a 18-6 season last year, Elkton boys basketball team is starting out their season with all their players no time to practice. "We had two days of try outs and that was it. Yesterday (Wednesday, December 14) was our first official day as a team," said Elkton head coach Joe Zang. The Elkton boys basketball team battled against Perryville to gain a 71-67 triumph over visiting Panthers on Wednesday, December 14. "Our expectations last night were to pressure and keep it simple. We knew it would be a win if they did that and they did that. So on that level yes they did but there is room for improvement. A win is always a good thing to be proud of, but this is day one for us. This is our first day as a team," said Zang. After his team losing to Elkton, Perryville's head coach Charles Givens Sr. was not satisfied with his results. "No, I am on the losing end. We made a lot of turnovers in that last quarter and a lot of poor judgment passes," he said. Givens plans to move forward and "work on it(turnovers and passes) in practice." The team has seven experienced players returning this year. "We are deep and very balanced, so everybody contributes. The guys that are going to get more opportunities early on are Ray Estep, J'Qwan Wesson, Travias "Tazz" Smith, Ryan Thompson, and Chino Purnell," said Zang. The Elks top offensive player of the night was Thompson. "He was comfortable, he looked like he was experienced. In the moment, I think he took smart shots and i think he made smart decisions with the basketball," said Zang. The teams defensive top players were Jarvis Moore, Wesson, Purnell, all those guys really sparked, especially in the second half with that man to man pressure," said Zang. The Elks use of pressure during the game aided to the teams win. "We knew that they(Perryville) were going to be aggressive. We knew that they were going to be a good team coming in but, the one thing we knew we were, was different from them. We knew how to use that pressure to our advantage," said Zang. Zang knew that this game against Perryville was going to be a close. "They shot the ball very well in the first half. They did a really good job rebounding the basketball offensively and they are just gutsy. They're very well coached. Every time we play them, I know its going to be a close game because of how hard they've worked every day," said Zang. Thompson led Elkton with 15 points and had three steals and obtained six rebounds. Purnell racked up 14 points and mad three steals. Wesson added eight points and made four steals and three assists. For the Panthers, Dennis Johnson and Dom Gugliotta racked up 16 points. Nick Roberts added 12 points. Zang is planning to build from his teams win and continue to improve throughout the rest of the season. "I think the main thing to improve on is our main shot defense and we need to do a better job communicating. We don't want to be satisfied ever. The goal always is to play our best basketball in March. Not wins but, we want to be ready to play," said Zang. "The biggest thing I want this year is my seniors to graduate and go on to college. I want to see them successful. As a team I want to grow," said Zang. Comments are closed.
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