After a difficult first half of the season, Banks boys basketball coach Pat Marlia had a few extra wrinkles on his forehead. He and his players were left scratching their collective heads as the team – comprised mainly of juniors and one senior – was winless in Cowapa League play.
Until Friday night.
Banks stopped a five-game losing skid with a 61-43 win over Yamhill-Carlton at home last Friday night. Three players scored in double figures as the Braves moved into fifth place in the league standings.
“This is the first step for us to get us going in the right direction,” Marlia said. “I think if we can get on a roll and we can beat Scappoose and beat Seaside, then going into Astoria anything can happen.”
The Braves came out firing last Friday and took an early 8-0 lead against Yamhill-Carlton (1-13, 0-5). Banks finished the first quarter ahead 14-6 and extended the lead to 16 points by halftime.
Trask Bowden scored 15 points, Colby Seyferth had 13 and Chris Loza added 10 more for Banks (4-12, 1-4). Bowden and Loza also added four steals apiece
“[Yamhill-Carlton has] played everyone in our league pretty tight,” Marlia said. “They were tied with Scappoose until halfway through the fourth quarter. And we were up 30-14 at half. Then from that point, we got the lead up to 20 or so.”
Marlia pointed out that the second half, mainly the fourth quarter, is really where his team has struggled.
“It seems like sometimes we get to the fourth quarter and some of our youth shows,” Marlia said. “But we should be learning from these games. I think we can get some of the games in the second half to fall our way.”
The Braves have a full week off before returning to the court on Feb. 2 to host Scappoose. Marlia wants to be riding a winning streak as the team heads to Astoria on Feb. 10.
“This was a real important game for us to win,” Marlia said of beating Y-C. “We had Scappoose and Seaside watching us on Friday night. You could tell they were a little worried. They aren’t saying Banks is a team they can [easily] beat. Hopefully we can come out here and give Scappoose a run for their money.”
The Braves struggled against Scappoose earlier this season, shooting 15-of-49 from the field with only 14 trips to the free throw line.
Beating Yamhill-Carlton last week has opened the doors for Marlia – now his focus is on keeping the team positive, sharp and focused. He knows that his players are capable of big wins, because when the Braves have won, they have won big, beating Clatskinie by 24, Amity by 26 and Y-C by 18.
But Marlia knows his team can have its low moments as well.
“[We had a rough] first four games of league play,” Marlia said. “They are a pretty young team, so they have nights where they go up and down. We could have won any of those, we just didn’t have a complete game.”
The Braves lost to Seaside in double overtime and Astoria by four points. Tillamook beat the Braves by 10 after Banks had the lead with five minutes to go.
“They hit shots and we couldn’t respond,” Marlia said. “Any one of those games could have been our stepping stone to get us [back in the right direction].”
Marlia wants the turnaround to start with solid play from his offense. He boasts about his players’ abilities to play within the triangle offense. Now he wants to see them flourish.
“We’re a pretty structured offensive team,” he said. “The guys do a great job running the plays. We like to run the triangle and get into the post. We run that outside-inside game. At Yamhill we ran a triangle and we ran it well.”
Marlia is now turning those wrinkles on his forehead into wrinkles in his offensive scheme – he is adding back-door cuts, screens and lob passes to the Braves’ offensive repertoire.
“Now we’re going to focus on quick hitters,” he said. “I prefer to keep things simple. Do less and do it well. Pound the inside and kick it out. The guys get excited when they get to run new plays.
“Hopefully we can elevate our play, and if we do, you never know what can happen.”
Leave a Reply