Pats say reloading the goal in ’15-16

All season long, the Ellender boys’ basketball team was an offensive force – a group capable of dominating opponents both inside the paint and behind the 3-point line.

But in the LHSAA Class 4A State Quarterfinals against No. 1 Salmen on Friday night, the No. 8 Patriots’ shooting touch abandoned them.

The penalty was a loss and the completion of the team’s season.

Ellender never could find its shooting rhythm on Friday night, falling to the Spartans 58-38. The often-hot Patriots couldn’t buy a bucket in the game, making just three 3-pointers and missing several free throws in the defeat.

“It was all about shooting,” Patriots coach Cornell Scott said after the loss. “Normally, we take pride in being able to knock down shots, but we couldn’t make too many (against Salmen). We’re usually a team that shoots opponents out of zone defenses, but Friday we just couldn’t. Hats off to Salmen’s coaches because they did an excellent job on the scouting report and we just didn’t make anything. That was the key to the game.”

For the Patriots, it was trouble from the get-go.

Ellender got off the bus struggling from the field – cold shooting that gave Salmen the opportunity to jump out of the gates 17-9 at the end of the first quarter and 34-19 at halftime.

“Salmen is so disciplined,” Scott said. “They move the ball very well. They have some really good shooters, and we knew that going in. I thought we did a great job defensively. I really do. I just think that we didn’t do enough on the offensive end to help our defense out.”

The Patriots came out of the lockers and played like a ball of fire in the third quarter, using its pressure defense to force turnovers and cut the Salmen lead to 5. But at the end of the day, the Patriots just couldn’t generate enough offense to set up its press.

Salmen entered the fourth quarter with an eight-point lead – an advantage that quickly grew in the early stages of the fourth. When it was all said and down, the Spartans had run away with it by a 20-point margin. That number is not indicative of how closely competitive the teams are, according to Salmen coach Jay Carlin, who said he was proud of his team for topping a top-notch foe.

“Ellender is a very good opponent,” Carlin said. “We knew it was going to be a tough game from start-to-finish. I think we got out early, and I think that gave us some confidence.”

The loss was the final game in the Patriots’ career of seniors Leland Alexander, Justen Harris, Akeem Boykin, Rontrell Hills, JaMarcus Jones and Dejon Lewis – all players who enjoyed high levels of success within Ellender basketball throughout their careers.

Scott said every, single outgoing senior will be missed. The biggest names are Alexander and Harris – an inside/out duo that combined for a lot of the team’s points. But the lesser-knowns made an impact as well, according to the coach, who said he’s sad to see his players go.

“It’s not just their athletic ability – even though they have plenty of that,” Scott said. “It’s their leadership that we’re going to miss, also. Anytime you send out that many seniors, it’s something that you think about and know that you’re going to have to replace.”

But the good news is that the talent pool is deep. It’s pretty rich, too.

Scott said that the Patriots’ freshman class went undefeated in the 2014-15 season and just might be one of the most talented ninth grade groups that he’s ever seen.

Ellender used freshmen Marquie Mosley, Divine Martin, Irvin Thomas and Kobe Hartman at time in the varsity season, touting that they’d have all enjoyed more minutes if the team wasn’t so veteran-laden.

Now that the roster load is a little bit lighter, more playing time will be free in the future.

Scott said he believes that the beneficiaries of that extra playing time will do just fine with an enhanced role at the varsity level.

“I’m sad, but I’m also excited,” Scott said. “I’m sad because I definitely don’t want to lose any of my seniors. But I’m also excited because I know that the group that’s coming up is very talented. You saw us play a few freshman at that level this past year, but to be honest with you, we have some other kids who are just as good who we had to keep off the floor this year because we couldn’t play them. But I think we all know the future is bright at Ellender. These kids coming up with show that. I think they can build on what we did this year.”

Because, of course, at a basketball program that’s as tradition-rich as Ellender, making it ot the Elite 8 is an honor, yes. But the ultimate goal is to be the last team standing – the group that cuts down the nets in the final game of the season.

That’s something that Scott said he believes can be a very real possibility in the very near future when he looks at what he has coming back.

“We want to take our program to where it used to be – quarterfinals, semifinals and finals every year,” Scott said. “That’s what we’re working on getting back every year. Anything short of that is kind of disappointing to us. We’re in the position where we think we can make another run.”