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Micah Ward led the Raiders with 11 points.
Despite a strong first half and a four-quarter fight, the Habersham Central High School (HCHS) Raiders fell just short of a victory Saturday as they were defeated by the Stephens County High School (SCHS) Indians 53-50 in Toccoa.
The Raiders (2-5) entered the game with high expectations and played one of their better games of the season, but couldn’t overcome the Indians in the second half.
“They competed their butts off, I couldn’t be more proud of these kids,” said Head Coach Cody Anderson. “We’re closer than maybe our kids realize, but we’re a long way from where we’ve got to be.”
HCHS opened the game with a 15-11 run and stretched their lead in the second quarter as they outscored the Indians 17-10 to take a 32-21 lead at the break.
Anderson said the first half was the first time this season the Raiders were clicking offensively from the start.
“We were really clicking offensively and playing really good defense,” he said, adding he told his team that their defense was going to be the difference in the second half. “Statistics say we’re a 28% shooting team and we shot 54% the first half, so what’s probably going to happen in the second half? We’re probably going to cool off a bit.”
Anderson said that was OK, as long as the Raiders continued to play solid defense.
“But we came out and were flat,” he said.
After their hot-shooting opening half, the Raiders managed just six points in the third quarter, while SCHS scored 16 points to edge closer. A 13-9 run by SCHS in the fourth quarter was enough to put them over the edge, but the Raiders never gave up.
“We actually got down by eight points at one point in the fourth quarter, but then fought back and made it a game,” he said. “I’m so proud of the fight in our kids. We just have to continue to cut out those spells where we stop doing what we do.”
Micah Ward led the Raiders with 11 points. Other scorers for HCHS were Josh Pickett and Grant Tipton with eight points each, Malachi Dooley with seven points, Grayson Adams with six points, Jeb Barnette with five points and Jace Reeder with two points.
Anderson said while the box score might not show it, the Raiders are a much-improved team from where they were at the start of the season.
“There are so many areas … where we’re so much better today than we were even three weeks ago,” he said. “When you have a brand new coach and system – a brand new way of doing things – that at this point in the year, there become so many brand new things that it’s hard at times to really lock in and execute all those things.”
Anderson said until the team gets to where their basic fundamentals are habits and they can add tweaks to the scouting reports, there are going to be moments in the game where the Raiders lose their minds.
“It’s tough to do all of those things,” he said. “Winning is also hard. I expect as we go forward that we’re just going to keep taking the next step.”
Anderson added he’s encouraged to see the areas where the team is improving, but he wants to see that improvement consistently.
Going into the game, one thing the Raiders emphasized was containing the Indians’ dribble, which Anderson said they did much better with.
“In our last two games, I didn’t think we’d done a good job of not allowing teams in the paint – that really is a minefield for our defense,” he said. “For us to come out and really do a fantastic job of keeping them out of the paint and get them frustrated offensively, I was very proud of that.”
Their good defense in the paint didn’t continue in the second half, however.
“We didn’t do a good job of containing the dribble in the second half,” Anderson said. “They were able to get to the free-throw line and able to drive for drive-and-kicks. We’ve shown we can do it, but it has to be for a whole game.”
Offensively, the Raiders are starting to get more of an understanding of where points can come from, Anderson said.
“We still go through spells where shots don’t fall, so one thing we’ve got to learn is sometimes, you’ve got to turn down a good 3-pointer to go get a great layup,” he said. “Our team is going to continue to learn. They’re still learning what I want and expect and what we want.”
On Tuesday, the Raiders traveled to Gainesville for a non-region game against Johnson High School (JHS), who Anderson said is one of the most improved teams in North Georgia.
“They’re trying to understand who they are,” he said, adding the game would come down to the Raiders’ ability to contain the dribble. “If we’re able to contain the dribble, I like our chances. If not, we’re in for a dogfight. When we do what we do, I’ll take our team over anyone.”
The Raiders won Tuesday’s game against Johnson High School 45-39. Read all about it in the Weekend edition of The Northeast Georgian.