PR falls short in substate finals

The Pleasant Ridge boys couldn’t overcome Holton on Saturday night in the title game of their 4A substate tournament, falling 49-42. It was the Wildcat’s height that gave the Rams fits, Holton enjoying a rebounding edge that PR head coach Pat Battle said was key in the loss.

“I thought we did a pretty decent job defending them, but one of the things they do really well is throw the ball up and then go get it,” Battle said. “They’re good on the boards. We met our match so to speak. The real deal was they were so much better rebounding the basketball than we were. When we came down, we were getting one shot. That was the difference in the game.”

The taller Holton players were also causing the Rams’ some offensive struggles at the outset of Saturday’s game, forcing them to change shots in order to get them over outstretched arms.

“...We’re playing against 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 and bringing 6-8 off the bench, that changes our shooting a bit,” Battle said. “We had looks, we had opportunities, but they bothered shots enough (to make us miss). When we got balls inside we missed layups and we had some wide-open looks from the outside that didn’t fall.”

After making just four field goals in the first half, the PR boys found themselves down 28-13 at the half. The Rams made up ground in the third though, holding Holton to just two points in the eight-minute period while putting up 12 to cut the Wildcat lead to 30-25 heading into the final quarter.

“You have to give our kids credit for coming back in the third,” Battle said. “We played a much higher level on both ends of the floor and you could really feel the sense of urgency from our guys. Going into the fourth we felt good going in down by five. We cut it to three several times. The third quarter was their season and they played like it. We rebounded our best in the third quarter.”

Although they had chances, Battle said, the Rams never could get closer than three points.

“Early in the fourth we had some opportunities,” the PR coach said. “We’d get a steal when we were down three but then turn it right back around and they’d score on it. ...That’s a huge turnaround, what could have been a one-point game is now a five-point game.”

Pleasant Ridge had three 3-pointers in the third quarter, including two from Matt Hager who finished with a team-high 17 points. Jace Warren added eight and Levi Johnson had eight in the loss. Dalton Warden hit the other third-quarter 3 pointer for PR.

Although it didn’t end up their way, Battle said he was really proud of his boys and their run to the substate title game in just their first year making the jump to 4A.

“I’m pretty proud of our kids and how they battled and competed. ...I think in our season, we made a lot of strides and made tremendous progress,” the Rams’ coach said. “To play in a 4A substate final for the first time in school history is pretty special for our kids.”

Battle said he was also proud of how the entire community rallied behind the Rams as they competed in the substate title game.

“It wasn’t just our team but our entire community. The band was tremendous, our fans and kids were supportive all the way. It was an awesome weekend. It was a lot of fun to come out of the locker room, take the floor and see our fans going crazy. It was a great weekend to be a Ram, there’s no question about that.”