THAYER – The host Thayer Flyers got a 28-point performance from Rousselle and raced past Altoona-Midway Middle School 48-7 in a Mineral Belt League contest here Thursday afternoon.
“I was really proud of the team tonight. I know the scoreboard doesn’t show it, but we played much better than we have in the past few games,” said AMMS coach David Batzer. “We just didn’t match up well with Thayer’s starting five at all. They were bigger and more athletic, and were definitely the best team we’ve played this year.”
Thayer jumped to a 19-0 first quarter lead and AMMS was still blanked 36-0 at halftime. The Jets got a three-point goal from Easton Matlock in the third quarter and baskets by Thaddeus Tindle and Hunter Reaves in the final period.
“I thought we passed the ball much better as a team, but we still need to translate that into shots on the basket. Thayer’s defense had a lot to do with it, but we still need to work on our decision-making on offense,” Batzer said.
“Our ball handling definitely improved, and we managed to break a really good press a couple of times before Thayer called off the full-court pressure,” he added. “We rebounded and looked for the outlet, which is something we’ve been working on in practice. As a coach, that’s all you can ask for – improvement in the areas we’ve been focusing on in practice. If we keep doing this, then we’ll put ourselves in a position to win some more games.”
The schedule doesn’t get any easier for the Jets, as they host St. Paul on Monday before traveling to Meadowview on Thursday.
“St. Paul is another really good team, and they have already beaten Thayer this year,” Batzer noted. “With that said, we’re excited for the challenge and the opportunity to play in front of our home crowd again.”