Determined Bear Creek effort comes up short - #lakewoodnews

Bear Creek players had good looks but their shots didn't fall. Arvada West, however, hit shots, jumping out to an early lead to win the Jan. 27 league boys basketball game, 65-29.

"I don't think we came out ready to play, but they did," Bear Creek coach David Berghoefer said of Arvada West. "It was tough and they have a really good team. Tonight, they were the aggressor, they threw the first couple punches and we didn't react."

Arvada West scored the first eight points of the game. While the Wildcat shots found the mark, the Bears saw their shots carom off the side of the rim or roll around the hoop and fall out. The result was Arvada West ahead 22-6 at the end of the first quarter. Despite determined efforts, Bears players never were able to close the scoring gap.

"We got behind early and our team isn't made up to climb out of a deep scoring hole," Berghoefer said. "We like to keep the tempo down at our pace and play like we want to play, but that doesn't equip us to make a big comeback."

Andrew Stasny was the leading scorer for Bear Creek with 11 points. Teammate Jacob Pigati scored eight points and Jordy Aranda scored six points for the Bears.

Max Bailey was the scoring leader in team statistics for 14 games with 107 points while Walter Ramsey had 104 points, John Kramer, Jacob Pigati and Jordan Aranda each scored 102 points in 14 games. In the 14-game statistics, Kramer is the three-point leader with 27, Aranda is the rebound leader with 67 boards, Bailey leads the team in assists with 32 and Ramsey leads the team in steals with 27.

Berghoefer said the Bears need to improve all aspects of their game.

"We need to work hard to get better," he said. "We have to play better offense, improve defensively and improve our transition game. We'll start working on those things tomorrow."

Kramer said it was a physical game and the Bears didn't play their best.

"We got behind early and I think we got a little intimidated by Arvada West tonight," the senior said after the game. "In the future, we can't let that happen. We have to fight and battle hard in every game we play."

After the Jan. 27 game, the Bears record stood at 6-10 overall and 2-5 in league. The team plays on its home court Feb. 5 against Lakewood.

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