Pitman came into the 38th annual Frank Godinez Boys Basketball Tournament hoping that the start would result in a victory but they met the undefeated Beyer Patriots (6-0) who are off to one of the best starts to-date and for the second time in six games, lost by a score of 43-63.
Pitman was held to only three points in the first period while Beyer racked up 17 and from that point on the zone defense from Beyer along with their aggressive double team caused problems for Pitman’s offense that really never got things started from the onset.
“We came out with the right energy,” Beyer head coach Kyle McKim said. “When we are hitting shots like that I think we are a pretty tough team to beat and I’m just happy we hit the shots.”
“One, Beyer is a good team. Their record tells you that they have been doing some great things right,” said Pitman head coach Harvey Marable. “Another thing they found out the first time we met them is that we don’t do well in the zone and so they started off in the zone picking up from the last game.”
Pitman is now 3-3 and will head into the consolation bracket where they will meet Laguna Creek.
Beyer moves on in the winner’s bracket to take on Davis.
Beyer’s style of play was extremely obvious with their ability to spread the ball around the court.
Out of the 13 players on the roster, five scored six or more points for the Patriots.
“We play very unselfish and at the end of the day you need to have the guys buy into it and we do,” said McKim. “We have the guys that can attack the basket and shoot well. Everybody plays for everyone else, they share the ball well, and my job is easy.”
Pitman had a tough time on defense as well, trying to contain the Patriots who were very efficient with their passes and inside shooting.
The only pause for the Patriots attack came when Pitman’s Cristian Cooley was brought in as the center to help stop the easy baskets in the paint, but by this point it was too late with the Pride of Pitman down by 20-plus.
“I told my guys that I really don’t care about this game because it is called preseason for a reason,” said Marable. “Because its pre until the real season begins and we want to be better in January than we are right now. We didn’t do well against their defense really.”
“It was a good win for us. I know Pitman got a couple guys back that didn’t play the first time so we prepared hard this week knowing they would be back,” McKim added.
Pitman’s top scorer for the night was Jando Diaz who notched a team-high 15 points. Sophomore Isaiah Marable was second on the team with nine points.
“Every game we play from this point forward we will learn from it and apply it on to our practice so we will be a better team when January comes around,” said Marable.
Beyer will move on in the winner’s bracket and face off against Davis at 7 p.m. tonight.
Pitman will square off against Laguna Creek in the consolation bracket at 7 p.m. tonight.
