BUFFALO – Riding high after opening the season with a victory over Chetopa, the Altoona-Midway Middle School basketball team was brought back to earth – rather abruptly – when Altamont Middle School rolled past the Jets 57-12 here Monday afternoon.
It was a rough debut on the home floor at Milo Peterson Gymnasium for AMMS. “Altamont was really big and experienced and it showed. CJ (Johnson) was doing a great job holding his own with the bigs down low until he reinjured his left wrist, and that hurt our rotation a bit from a size aspect. We need to do a better job of shifting and rotating with our zone defense to help out our smaller guards.
Altoona-Midway actually started strong, jumping out to a 5-0 lead before Altamont got on the board. However, a strong full-court press hampered the Jets’ and they would not score again until after intermission.
“We got off to a great start and still led 5-4 halfway through the first quarter. That’s when Altamont’s press started to get to the team and we didn’t score again until the second half,” Batzer noted. “We had a lot of unforced errors. Travels and errant passes were the theme of the night. When we did manage to get the ball up the court we competed really well.”
Zach Good led the Jets in scoring with eight points and Eliot Ard had two points. Caden Sicka and Toryn Ellsworth had one point apiece for AMMS. Good and Sicka led the rebounding department with eight and seven, respectively.
“Offensively we just need to settle down and run the offense. When we do that there have been a lot of open shots,” Batzer said. “Eventually, they will start to fall.”
Altoona-Midway also lost the “B” game 37-6. But the loss was overshadowed by a historic moment for the school, as AMMS is fielding a coed basketball team this year for the first time.
“It was the first time this season for one of our girls, Allie Lockhart, to get in a game,” Batzer pointed out. “She was understandably a bit nervous at times but was not out of place playing with the boys. Our other Lady Jet, Destiny Raymond, returns from Germany next week, and we’re looking forward to her being a factor on our A-team.”
Toryn Ellsworth scored four points for the AMMS “B” unit, and Hunter Reaves chipped in a bucket to round out the scoring.
“It was the first time on the court for most of our younger players, it was their first time on the court, but overall I was encouraged by their hustle and fight,” Batzer said. “Now we move on to Oswego, another tough matchup. Hopefully, we’ll regroup with a couple of good practices and be ready to go.”
AMMS will hit the road to Oswego on Thursday. Tipoff is slated for 5 p.m