Impenetrable Defense Holds Down the Fort

Boys varsity basketball ended the first half of the season with a strong 51-39 win over Proctor Academy on a rare Tuesday night game. Rebounding off a tough loss to a potent New Hampton School on Friday night, Big Red showed no signs of aftershock from the game. All cylinders were pumping in the dominant performance back home.Setting the standard at an 8-5 record, the team has meshed together through injuries and started to form a solid starting line which fuses returning talent with fresh faces, involving the entire team into games. The game against Proctor had everyone on the team scoring points. Hopefully Big Red will be able to continue their success among the bench and starters in the future.“Yesterday was a solid win. We played all 11 guys and got solid contributions from a lot of our younger members,” said senior Tony Karalekas. “Lowers James Foye and Perry DeLorenzo have positively stepped into their roles, and everyone’s starting to play with more confidence and sticking to our game plan.”“Coach plays everyone a lot, so every player is key,” postgraduate Jeb Helmers said. But Helmers still sees room for improvement, “we need to execute our offense more consistently.”However, while the offense still faces challenges, Big Red’s defense was stellar in Tuesday night’s game. The 39 points Proctor was held to was the second-lowest amount of points allowed all year. Making the victory margin for the game one of the largest for the 2013-2014 team.“I thought we took a step forward in the right direction,” said prep Mitch Kirsch. “We finished plays better and competed well, but we still need to keep working hard in practice to become the team we want to be. Overall, it was a good team win and we needed all 11 guys.”In Big Red’s next game they will face St. Pauls. Although both squads attended the Seacoast Classics Tournament before Winter Break, the teams didn’t play one another. So, this will be the first time they will be going head-to-head in the regular season. Historically, St. Paul’s has lost to Exeter in every matchup, the most notable being last year’s 72-23 humiliation on the road, but as it always is with sports, anything can happen. The game will be on the road, but hopefully Exeter can use the momentum from Saturday’s game to charge ahead. As the young team adds more and more game experience, the team knows they have potential still to fill.