The Malcolm boys’ basketball team had been making life too easy for its opponents.
Offensively, they were settling—failing to take enough time off the clock and not making the defense work.
Defensively, they allowed too much penetration into the paint and lacked physicality. Last week, that changed.
The Clippers locked in on defense, holding a pair of opponents to a combined 73 points while picking up wins over Louisville and Yutan.
In a back-and-forth matchup against the Lions on Feb. 3, Malcolm prevailed, 49-41.
“We challenged our guys and told them it’s OK to pick up a foul or two if it’s because you’re playing hard,” Malcolm coach Chris Lewandowski said. “That game got really physical. We were undersized and needed to play with more aggression. We won the battle.”
After taking a six-point lead into halftime, the Clippers saw Louisville trim the deficit to just two points heading into the final frame.
“We kind of laid an egg in the third quarter,” Lewandowski said. “But we picked up the pace down the stretch and created just enough separation.”
Sophomore Preston Kucera led the way with 15 points and three steals. Carson Frank matched Kucera with three steals while adding 13 points and four rebounds.
On Feb. 8, Malcolm traveled to Yutan and knocked off a strong Chieftains squad, 44-32.
“That was a good win for us,” Lewandowski said. “Yutan has beaten some solid teams this year. This might have been one of our better defensive performances of the season.”
The Clippers held Yutan to just 23% shooting.
“We didn’t let them take easy shots, and we kept them out of the paint,” Lewandowski said. “And when they missed shots, we crashed the boards.”
Three Malcolm players—Frank, Brixon Meyer, and Tristen Boehle—each pulled down seven rebounds.
Aidan Cunningham knocked down a pair of three-pointers on his way to a 16-point performance, while Miles McGill and Frank each added 10 points.
“When they clamped down on Carson and Preston, we saw Aidan and Miles really step up,” Lewandowski said. “Aidan had been in a bit of a funk. It was good to see him hit some big shots.”
Malcolm (11-7) faces a pair of tough opponents this week, hosting Ashland-Greenwood (13-5) on Tuesday before traveling to Centennial (10-8) on Saturday, Feb. 15.
“Ashland-Greenwood is playing really good ball right now,” Lewandowski said. “Centennial is a team that always plays us close. We got them with a game-ending three in our holiday tournament. Going there and winning will be a challenge. But if we continue to play with the intensity we did this past week, I think we can compete with a lot of teams.”
