To kick off the new sports season, the boys basketball team drove across town for their first matchup at Daegu Middle High School (DMHS) for a friendly on December 12th. Due to more experience from their previous six bouts, the DMHS squad held the upper hand. Regardless, the Jets looked to start off strong and take the win. 

The varsity starting lineup of Ethan Rossmeisl (number 5) at point guard, Dylan Wang (number 1) at power forward, Justin Son (number 24) at shooting guard, Colin Ji (number 99) at small forward, and Haydn Mangione (number 30) at center stepped onto the court for the tip-off. The ref tossed the ball into the air, but the 6/4” Warriors center bodied Mangione. The two teams went neck and neck for the first 8 minutes. They exchanged shot after shot as the first quarter ended with DMHS in the lead: 20-14. 

The Jets started hot to begin the second quarter. DIS caught back up as the scoreboard flashed 20-19. However, DMHS changed their strategy and switched to a full-court press. Caught off guard by the aggressive defense from the Warriors, the varsity boys fumbled multiple passes and gave up 20 points from turnovers alone. The Jets failed to handle the pressure and trailed behind by 25 at the end of the first half: 46-21. 

After a brief break, the boys jumped back in to start the second half. The third quarter zoomed by as DMHS made easy buckets as a result of the steals obtained through their tough as nails defense. The period ended with DIS in a major deficit heading into the fourth: 66-29.

With the outcome already settled due to the giant score gap, both coaches played the bench members in garbage time. DMHS and DIS scored 12 and 7 more points respectively in the final quarter and the game ended with a Warrior’s victory and the score of 78-36. 

Even with the point differences, DMHS fought hard for the victory. “I was really tired. DIS played at a fast pace so it was hard keeping up. I think number 5 was the best player. He controlled the DIS offense and hit tough shots. I think friendlies are great. It’s a good way to get more game experience and play more teams,” said Adrian Tagalog (number 0), the DMHS boys basketball captain, about the scrimmage.

Coach Kaschub and the squad learned from the mistakes they made against DMHS. “We got beat by quite a few points. It was not a pretty game for the Jets for the first game against DMHS. But there was a lot of improvement. They played quite well and they put a lot of pressure on us and we didn’t handle that well, but even some of the things we didn’t do well we improved a lot throughout the game. A lot of players expressed interest right after the game that they want to get back into work and they want to keep playing and improving,” said Mr. Kaschub, DIS head basketball coach. 

Rather than quit and lose hope, the Jets seek revenge against the Warriors in the next friendly match on Tuesday, January 16th. DIS hopes to pack the Jetnasium with fans. The cheer team, and the Illusion Dance ensemble will perform at halftime.