Martlets Fall on the Road

The Martlets traveled to Frederick Gunn for a rematch on a day that felt a bit more like spring than winter. In our first game against Gunn, we underperformed our potential as a team. This game was different. Although we didn’t win and it wasn’t a perfect game, we played much closer to our potential and competed with excellent energy the entire game. Our game plan was simple: pack the paint and take away easy driving lanes to force Gunn to beat us from the outside. That plan worked overall. We played solid defense in the first period, containing most of Gunn’s offense–one player accounted for most of their points in the first half. Offensively, pick-and-roll and motion sets were working to get Jermaine James ‘24 and Austin Black ‘24 decent looks around the rim while Wills Lown ‘24 made some key momentum shots from the outside. Jayden Reid ‘25 and Austin Black ‘24 did get into early foul trouble, which put us at a 

slight disadvantage. Still, going into the half-tied 33-33, we felt confident in our game plan and the team’s execution: if we hit a few more threes and grab a few more rebounds, the game could be ours. Cayden Darnowski ‘25 hit a three from the corner to start the second half, and the momentum swung in our direction. And what we did well in the first half continued into the second. Jermaine James ‘24 continued to facilitate while slashing to the rim for buckets and foul shots, finishing the game with twenty-six points. Others also contributed, including Jake Carbone ‘24, who hit two great jump shots and played excellent defense. But Gunn hit six threes to our four in the second half, which ended up being the difference in the game. The team will enjoy a slight respite this coming week as we prepare for Kent next Saturday.