If you missed it, the Griffins’ last home game of the season was held Feb. 14, and before the basketball game started, they held a ceremony for their sophomores. Sadly for the Griffins, the Cuyamaca Coyotes spoiled their night in a heartbreaking fashion, defeating the Griffins 75-72.
The Griffins started slow, finding themselves down 23-13 with eight minutes left in the first half. They were getting a lot of good shots up, but could not get them to fall while everything shot by the opposing team was going in. At the end of the first half, the Griffins were not able to climb out of the hole they created and were down 36-28.
Once the second half started, the Griffins picked up a second wind. They started to change the pace of the game by playing faster and full-court pressing. The Coyotes felt the pressure, making turnovers and shooting bad shots, which helped Grossmont get back into the game.
Grossmont was only down three points halfway through the final half. They started to hit all the shots they were missing in the first half. On the offensive end, the scoring was mostly done by the sophomore shooting guard, Tre Edmond, who led the game by scoring 23 points. Unfortunately for the Griffins, it was too little too late and they were not able to fully come back. They did have a chance to send it to overtime, but they just barely missed the three-point shot. Losing this game put them at 4-21, with two games remaining for the year.
“In the first half we were very strategic in the approach we took defensively and it was effective in many regards except right in the middle of the key, which is precisely where we were concerned that would be the problem,” said Assistant Coach James Hyneman. “In the second half and at halftime, the adjustment we made was to come out with more energy.”
Hyneman said it was important to pick up the speed of the game and keep up the energy defensively for the duration of the match.
“All in all, second place in a game is still second place, but progress is still being made,” Hyneman said.
Grossmont had a lot of games that were lost by less than 10 points like this game against Cuyamaca. When asked how they can change that for next season, Hyneman said it was “hard to tell” because of team turnover.
“We have nine sophomores, so there will be a significant transition of personnel,” he said.
The sophomores who were honored were Edmond, Diego Sanchez, Elijah Williams, Amari Leflore, Tyrone Lester, Sebastian Vann, Tony Sanchez, Micah Odell, and Omarion Bellamy.
