PLEASANT HILL – Watching Pleasant Hill play basketball so far this season has been like a trip to the carnival. The first three games have been a real roller-coaster ride.
The Billies, playing one of the toughest schedules in the state, opened with a 50-point victory over Jefferson, then followed that up with a 30-point loss to Western Christian. Then on Saturday, they blew a 28-point lead at home against Valley Catholic, only to regroup at the end and get away with a 50-48 victory.
“They put pressure on us, and we haven’t worked a lot on our press,” Pleasant Hill coach Luke Jackson said. “We turned it over a lot, we’re having some preseason growing pains. We didn’t play well at Western. We got run out of the gym, so I challenged our guys to play tougher and I’m proud of the way we responded, it’s a good team win.”
They showed their toughness right from the opening tip. Less than one minute into the game, there was a scramble for a loose ball that led to a mini-brawl. Each team had one player ejected from the game.
A tip-off tussle that led to a mini-brawl resulted in one player from each team being ejected from the game.
Jackson was happy with the contributions he got from several players in the game.
“Doug Green really stepped up, he’s a sophomore, great shooter. I’m super proud of him,” Jackson said. “Kaden Fisher had some big plays.
“Riley Smith set the tone defensively, he’s a great finisher, a calming presence.
Gavin (Inglish) and Landen (Melvin) hit some tough shots.
“But we have to get better and get tougher. Valley Catholic is one of the best teams in the state, if not the best team in the state.”
Inglish, an all-state player and the Billies’ leader, said these roller-coaster games will pay dividends for Pleasant Hill down the road.
“It’s been fun this year, especially with the coaching change,” he said. “Luke has been doing a really good job of leading us, and making sure that everything he says we take to heart. Tonight, I think speaks to the resilience of this team. Facing the adversity last night, then coming here tonight and building a big lead, letting go of it a little bit, then hanging on at the end, Luke always preaches that having the tight-knit bond and family aspect that our team has will help us pull out these close games like this.”
