There are no more games to dream about this year for the 2021-2022 Ste. Genevieve Boys Varsity Basketball team. After an excellent season and high hopes for a district-run, the Dragons found themselves on the wrong side of a 44-36 game against the Potosi Trojans in the first round of the District Tournament, on Monday, February 28th.
The game was a battle all the way, but Ste. Gen fell behind early, down 14-10 after only one quarter, and down 26-20, after the first half. The Potosi lead never diminished much, as it became a defensive affair in the second half. The Dragons never got hot, and only managed to score four points in the third, and twelve in the final frame, which was not enough to close the gap.
This defensive showcase by both teams led to one of the lowest-scoring games of the season, as Ste. Gen’s offense just never managed to penetrate the Potosi defense consistently. Doing what he could to fuel his team, Rudy Flieg supplied 14 points and six rebounds, with Aiden Boyer just behind him adding 12 more points and 11 rebounds.
It was a rough final game. Head Coach Rob Coleman knew his team played with everything they had, but it just wasn’t their night. Disappointed by the result, he commented, “Obviously it didn’t go the way we wanted. We had too many turnovers, especially early, and just couldn’t hit our shots. Overall the season was a success though.”
Knowing that they could have played better will certainly stick in the minds of each member of the team for a long time. However, Coleman reflected positively on the season as a whole and stated, “This is the most wins in a season that we have had since I have been coaching here and we also won the first-ever MAAA Conference Tournament Championship. I am very proud of our guys. They worked hard all season long, were great teammates and great young men. We are going to miss our six seniors tremendously. They are great leaders and are the exact type of young men we want representing our program, our school and our community.”
With the season over, the team will now have a chance to reflect on what went well and what needs improvement in the offseason. October is a long ways off from March, but spring conditioning and summer camps are just around the corner. The Dragons’ fire may be out for now, but there’s always next year, of which to begin dreaming.
