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PSA coach Tom Espinosa pulled a couple of his players into his office last week for a little pep talk, if you will.
Specifically, he told Miles Rose and Will Lovings-Watts that the Mustangs needed more from them, and that they needed to be more aggressive, more selfish.
Both players responded Dec. 1, Rose attacking the rim to open up space for his jumper and Lovings-Watts letting his shot fly when it was there, and PSA rolled to its ninth consecutive win, 106-46 over Hoosac.
Rose finished with 12 points and just strong all-around play. Rose’s game was a continuation of an all-around better showing from him this year as compared to last. He had 12 points, four assists, and four steals in a win over Busche Academy the night before, a performance that Espinosa termed “phenomenal.”
His overall season numbers don’t jump off the page (he’s averaging six points and two assists), but make no mistake, the St. Bonaventure-bound Rose has been a different player.
“My coaches have been telling me to have more confidence and look to make more plays,” said Rose, who also played a terrific game Wednesday night, “so that’s what I’m trying to do. When they tell me that, it shows that they have confidence in me.
“If you see me trying to make plays for myself and my teammates, that’s when I’m feeling good.”
Said Espinosa: “He’s 6-5, strong, athletic. When he’s playing with confidence, he’s one of the best guards in New England prep school basketball. He has to continue to have that confidence and be mentally tough.”
For his part, Lovings-Watts had 20 points (including two on a wicked two-handed alley oop) and six rebounds Dec. 1 in a game in which the Mustangs were flying around the court in the first half, pressuring ballhandlers, contesting passes and shots, just making it very hard for Hoosac to do anything. PSA led 53-20 at the break.
“We wanted to be fired up from the beginning of the game and make a statement,” Espinosa said. “I was really, really happy after the first 20 minutes and they had 20 points. Hoosac’s a good team, and to hold them or anyone to 20 points, you have to play really, really hard to do that. They were not comfortable for a second in that first half.”
Wednesday night, PSA handled Busche Academy, 110-73, behind 11 points and 16 rebounds from Mouhamed Dioubate. In addition to him and Rose, five other Mustangs scored in double figures, led by Darryl Simmons (17 points, plus five assists and two steals), Blake Barkley (14 points), Duane Thompson (13), Lovings-Watts (12), and Ty Foster (11).
The week didn’t end as well however, as PSA lost 67-63 to Bradford Christian Academy at the Zero Gravity Prep Classic Dec. 3.
“It was a battle. They defended, we defended for the most part,” Espinosa said. “We’re struggling to score, and we’re not the toughest team, mentally or physically. We’re trying to make them tough. We’re not there yet.”
Meanwhile, PSA’s Elite boys’ team won two of its three games last week. Thierry Lokrou had a season-high 38 points Nov. 28 in a 105-87 win over Hamden Hall. Yhali Steinhauer finished with 17 points, and Travis Upchurch had 16 for the Mustangs, who went on a 15-1 run early in the second half to open up the game.
Lokrou had 22 points Dec. 1 and Bennett Pegues hit seven 3-pointers to finish with 21 points, and PSA came away with an impressive 82-63 win over Hoosac.
“I don’t think I’ve ever hit seven 3s in one game,” Pegues said. “For the most part, I’ve been able to shoot, but not lights out like that. I didn’t know how many I had, but I knew I was hot. As a team, we were moving the ball pretty well and my teammates were finding me at the right times where I could either shoot right away or make a move to create some space.”
Lokrou had 21 points and Steinhauer finished with 10 Dec. 2, but the Mustangs (3-4) struggled mightily to mount much offense in a 59-38 loss to New Horizons, out of Canada, at the Zero Gravity Prep Showcase.
PSA’s Varsity team split a pair of games, topping St. Andrews 69-33 Dec. 2 in a game in which 13 of the Mustangs’ 14 players scored, led by Shane Sebastian-Smalls, who finished with 12, and Mario Espinoza, who had 11. The Mustangs (2-1) were overpowered by a much older team Nov. 30 when they dropped a 96-76 decision to Fisher College’s JV team, despite 22 points from Michael Olorunsola, 16 from Vlad Vetrov, and 15 from Taras Poliuchovic.
Stephen Nalbandian
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy