New Castle coach Ralph Blundo told his team after the loss that “It’s disappointing and that the off-court distractions are catching up with us,” adding, “It’s making things difficult to be the best team we can be.”
In the fourth quarter, Woodland Hills’ Scoop Smith posted 11 of his game-high 26 points. With 2:22 remaining in the game, the Wolverines took a 51-45 advantage to hold the Red Hurricane at bay.
“He made some big plays off the dribble, got to the rim and scored it,” Blundo said of Smith. “He made it very difficult for us and I give him a lot of credit for that.”
It was a back-and-forth battle in the first quarter. Woodland Hills (3-6 section, 7-9 overall) took a brief lead thanks to some 3-pointers from Smith.
After New Castle’s Damian Harrison knotted the game at 12 in the first quarter, which was followed by teammate Noreaga Jackson sinking a bucket to gain a two-point lead. Woodland Hills’ Tymir Walker tied the game back up at the free-throw line, which was followed by another Wolverine bucket at the buzzer to enter the second quarter with a 16-14 lead.
“I thought we did some good things offensively, but we weren’t great defensively,” Blundo said of the first half. “They made three 3s in the first quarter. We needed to be a little more engaged but we had some awkward lineups at times and it gets us out of sync a little bit.”
New Castle (6-3, 12-3) outscored the Wolverines, 12-10, in the second quarter to enter halftime with the game knotted at 26.
“We were in a dog fight and we knew that we would be and we’d have to fight, scratch and claw,” Blundo said. “I thought Damian (Harrison) did that in the second half, especially in rebounding the basketball. He gave us some really good effort. It was an extremely lazy and unengaged transition defense that allowed guys to get behind us with little effort. That was probably the difference in the game. That, in and of itself, was extremely disappointing.”
Ralphie Blundo led New Castle with 17 points.
“He cares,” Coach Blundo said of his son’s performance. “All I can say about him is that he cares. He gives it all he has and he doesn’t always play great, but the effort and the willingness to do what he can do is there every night.”
Before the game, Ralphie Blundo was given his ceremonial basketball celebrating him breaking 1,000 career points in last Friday’s game against North Hills. After Tuesday’s game, Ralphie Blundo currently has 1,027 career points.
In the third quarter, New Castle recorded 15 points to Woodland Hills’ 13 to grab a 41-39 advantage heading into the final quarter.
New Castle hosts Butler at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
“You respond. You go back to work and do what you have to do in order to win a basketball game,” Coach Blundo said on facing Butler. “You do as best as you can to prepare and get yourself ready.”