Leave it to a first-year coach to find the silver lining in a
25-point loss in his team
’s season opener.
Leave it to a first-year coach to find the silver lining in a 25-point loss in his team’s season opener.
After the Live Oak High girls basketball team fell 44-19 to visiting Oak Grove on Tuesday, Acorns coach Richard Silva’s first words were of praise for his team’s effort.
“The biggest positive was a lot of hustle and a lot of effort,” Silva said. “I can’t ask for more than that as far as that goes.”
But Silva found plenty of grey in his team’s overall performance, a color he didn’t express much appreciation for.
“Our worst nemesis was ourselves,” he said. “You can’t make as many mistakes as we did and expect to win.”
Indeed, both teams contributed to an error-filled game, replete with turnovers and fouls.
But Live Oak’s errors played themselves out mostly on the offensive end, where the Acorns struggled.
Oak Grove, which had already played a game this season — a 48-44 loss to Hollister the previous night, came out quickly in the first quarter and swamped the Acorns early behind its pressure defense, leading 16-2 after a quarter of play.
Live Oak began to settle down in the second and third quarters as its pressing defense, including an effective half-court trap, began to pay dividends in the form of easy buckets.
But the Acorns missed as many layups as they made, and when the Eagles fouled themselves into the penalty situation, Live Oak’s poor free-throw shooting kept them from mounting much of a comeback.
“When we beat their pressure, we weren’t finishing our layups,” Silva said. “And, you can’t miss that many free throws.”
Overall, the Acorns sank just 6-of-22 from the charity stripe.
The Acorns were led by sophomore guard Annalise Curley, who scored six points, and freshman center Kristy Robinson, who snagged nine rebounds.
Live Oak will host Gunderson in its next game at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 2.
In the nightcap, the boys basketball team’s annual game against the Live Oak High alumni, the Acorns eked out a 55-52 victory.
The highlight of the game came when three generations of former Acorn players from the same family shared the court, including patriarch Warren Gwinn (Class of 1950), his son-in-law Doug Wright (Class of 1978) and grandson Joel Wright, a senior guard.
