Opening Game Growing Pains For Cobble Hill Stallions

The first six minutes of a season of question marks for the provided none of the right answers: The visiting Stallions – who lost four of five starters from last year's team – had not scored a single point, and had staked the home Medgar Evers Prep Cougars to a 6-0 lead.

The Stallions found their bearings after that and even took a short-lived lead in the second half.  But they ultimately succumbed to the bigger, more physical Cougars in a season-opening 43-33 defeat.

The game was the Stallions' first since their loss last March in the PSAL B semifinals. Judging from their sloppy play, getting back to that point will be an uphill task. Traveling violations and turnovers abounded for both teams. The Stallions were doomed particularly by a "lack of free throw shooting and the inability to finish a layup," said seventh-year coach Tim Rice.

Although the Cougars had the size advantage, the scrappy Stallions were able to generate lots of turnovers with their active hands, which is a point of emphasis for Rice. But the inability to convert those turnovers into points squandered the Stallions' hard work.

The Stallions also had difficulty with the Cougars' three-quarter- and half-court traps, committing numerous turnovers as a result.

"We need to do a better job recognizing and attacking those traps to get some easy baskets," Rice said.

Rice added that his team didn't take advantage of the Cougars' foul trouble.  Starting midway through the third quarter, the Stallions were in the double bonus, in which getting fouled would have netted two free throw attempts.

Instead, Rice said his team "settled for jump shots."

"We should have capitalized on [the double bonus] by taking it to the basket," he said. "But we didn't. And then when we did, we couldn't finish layups."

The Stallions overcame first half deficits of 6-0 and then 18-9 to draw within 18-16 at halftime. They even took the lead in the first minute of the second half, but it was their only lead of the game.

Still, the game stayed close until midway through the fourth quarter. But then the Cougars rattled off a 10-2 run to take a 10-point-lead with only 2 minutes remaining. 

Having lost most of their starters from last year's team, it was an open question coming into the game of which Stallions would assert themselves as the team's go-to players. Shammel Waite made a strong case for himself on Thursday by leading the team with 13 points. Waite, a junior swingman, combines size and athleticism with dexterity around the basket.

Latrell Johnson, a junior guard, and junior swingman Jamel Ali contributed three points apiece.

The Stallions are comprised mostly of juniors with little varsity experience. For the team to achieve the success of their predecessors – the Stallions have advanced to the semifinals for six straight years and posted a .720 winning percentage since 2007 – will take a healthy amount of coaching from Rice.

Rice is an arresting presence on the sideline during games. He is tall (around 6-foot-3), and has retained his basketball player's physique and jauntiness at age 50. He stalks the sideline with intensity, his upper body angled forward in tension toward the action. During Thursday's game, he wore a battleship gray suit and bright Timberland boots.

When he addresses his players, he follows his exhortation with one of three pronouns. "Man" signals annoyance. (As in, "You gotta box out, man!") "Son" signals forbearance with a mistake and a teachable moment. "Baby" is used for encouragement, and is usually followed with three hard hand-claps.

After the game, he looked at his team's glass as half-full. "Sometimes losses make you a better team," he said. "I know what we have to work on and we're going to get back to the drawing board, starting tomorrow. It's a long season."