Boys Basketball: ‘Horrible’ play costs Richards

Updated: December 28, 2011 8:04PM

When Richards coach John Chappetto did not mince any words or hold back after his Bulldogs were topped 65-46 by the Alton Redbirds Wednesday at the Centralia Tournament.

“We drove four hours and played horrible,” said Chappeto. “A team that has lost more games than they have won, can still be a good team. We had them down in the first quarter and we gave them life. It was embarrassing. There were times we could not even catch the ball. We looked good today for about three minutes total.”

Some of that time must have been in the third quarter. After trailing 29-20 after the first half, the Bulldogs managed to cut the lead to 39-35 on a three-pointer by Raynard Judkins with 2:53 to play. But, the Bulldogs, who had started cutting into a nine-point halftime Alton lead with a layup at the 7:42 mark by Cortez Harper, saw the lead evaporate just as quickly. The Redbirds scored the final nine points of the third quarter and were up 48-35 after three. Alton led by as many as 17 twice in the fourth quarter.

“They deserved to win and we did not,” said Chappetto of the Redbirds. “We are better than we showed today. Last night our practice was not good. We played today like we practiced last night.”

At one point in the second quarter, Alton increased its lead to 10 by the middle of the second stanza. While they could not old the lead, they constantly flirted with a 10-point lead the rest of the second. Javone Shorter cut the lead to six with a lone charity toss with :13.4 to play in the first quarter, but Alton freshman Carlos Anderson answered with a trey in the waning seconds to give Alton a 29-20 lead at intermission.

Shorter finished with 14 points, while Deonta Parker-Jones finished with 10. Alton’s Tyrome Parker led all scorers with 20 points.

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