Superior drops two

The Superior boys played against two tough teams before Christmas break. They went up against Arlee on December 21 and also battled Florence the following evening.

Against Arlee, a team that Coach Bajin Smith said is picked first to win in their conference, the boys lost by only ten points, 46-56.

“They were a good fast team,” Smith said, “and well disciplined. We knew that going in. We knew we had a tough game.”

Still, the Bobcats played some good basketball. Smith said that on defense, they held some of Arlee’s top shooters to a lot less points than they normally acquire.

“I was really proud of what the kids did on defense,” Smith said. “We held down some big shooters. I was proud.”

Smith said that the team struggled on offense a bit. He said they struggled to  get the ball working down the court.

“All in all, it was a good game,” Smith said.

RJ Frederick was the top scorer for the Bobcats against Arlee. He led with 11 points. Aaron Lowman was close behind with 10. Billy Smith scored seven, Tanner Coon scored six, Clint Voll scored eight and Adam Kay added four.

The quarters broke down pretty evenly for the most part. Arlee jumped out to an early lead and led going into the second quarter, 21-14. Superior tried to vie for the lead in the second quarter, but only scored eight points to Arlee’s 15. Arlee also outscored the Bobcats in the third, but in the fourth the Bobcats outscored them 14-5.

After a loss to Arlee, the boys readied themselves to play Florence. They ended up losing again.

“It was another one of those games where we went into a line of giants,” Smith said. “They had some tall kids and were a disciplined group. The coach does a great job with them.”

Smith said that the boys played a strong first half. with tough defense and at one point in the third quarter with around five minutes left they really narrowed the lead and nearly overtook Florence.

“We were missing one of our starters in the Florence game, but the boys showed a lot of promise and are working hard,” Smith said.

“I think we’re ahead of where we anticipated we would be at this point in the season,” Smith said.

Smith said that they are looking forward to the game against Valley Christian, which they played on January 4. They also play Ronan on Saturday.