By Reid Murray ’22
January 10, 2022
On January 5, the USN Boys’ Varsity Basketball team had to face a challenging opponent earlier than they expected. In anticipation of heavy snowfall, the Tigers’ matchup with district-leading Webb (Bell Buckle) on January 6 had to be moved up one day. The Girls’ Varsity game was postponed to a later date.
The Tigers started the game well, leading 20-9 at the end of the first quarter. They carried that effort into the next quarter, and entered the half with a 32-21 lead over their formidable opponent.
USN then came out firing in the second half, starting the third quarter on a 12-2 run that included three successful three-point shots.
After this explosion of points, a moment for the USN history books took place. After a Webb technical foul, Josh Scretchen ‘22 stepped up to the free-throw line with 1:06 remaining in the third quarter. After missing his first free throw, Scretchen sunk the second one, making him USN’s first basketball player since Amara Payne ‘19 to score 1,000 career points.
“It feels good. I worked hard for it.” Scretchen said. “[I’ve] been a starter since [I was] a freshman, so this was coming.”
After Scretchen made the free throw, the crowd erupted with cheers and the Tigers’ bench cleared to celebrate with its star point guard. One USN student who was particularly happy to see Scretchen hit the 1,000 point mark was his brother, Cannon Scretchen ‘24.
“I’m really proud,” Cannon said. “A limited number of people have done that before and to see him … on that board … it just makes me really proud [and] happy that he’s done that for himself.”
Head coach Mike Jones also had high praise for his point guard after the game.
“He’s a very deserving young kid; [he] doesn’t get the respect that he’s due,” Jones said. “When Josh plays well, he’s tough to deal with — it doesn’t matter who the opponent is. So, he’s very deserving of [1,000 career points], and hopefully, that just blossoms into more accolades and more success for him and our team down the road.”
The Tigers remained in control through the fourth quarter. That is, until Webb started using a full-court press. With under five minutes remaining in the game, the Feet changed their backcourt defensive strategy, which caused many problems for the Tigers.
By getting steals and forcing errant passes, Webb was able to create scoring opportunities in the late minutes of the district matchup. Then, guard Arnett Hayes’ three-point shooting ability and center Stephen Olowoniyi’s size allowed Webb to claw its way back into the game, and eventually cut the deficit to four points with 59 seconds left on the clock.
Eventually, USN’s free throw shooting ability became Webb’s demise, as the Feet could not stop sending their opponent to the charity stripe. In the end, the Tigers emerged victorious, winning the game by a final score of 71-65.
Coach Jones spoke about the importance of keeping his team focused while ahead on the scoreboard.
“A huge focus of ours is to make sure we are consistent for the duration of the game,” he said. “When we’re playing well, we know we’re one of the better teams around. The big thing that we try to focus on day in, day out is ‘can we sustain that effort for four quarters?’”
Scretchen agreed that playing all four quarters needs to be a priority, but was happy with his team’s performance as a whole.
“We almost let them come back at the end, but we just gotta stay focused,” Scretchen said. “I mean, we’re coming off of break, so of course we’re rusty, but that’s a good win.”
Despite giving Webb the chance to complete a spectacular comeback in the last five minutes, the Tigers still have lots to celebrate. In their last two district games, they have taken down the current first-place Columbia Academy Bulldogs, and the 2020 district champion Webb Feet.
Coach Jones emphasized how long his team has strived to get consistent wins against top teams like the Bulldogs and the Feet.
“I think that this has been a long time coming for our guys. We have a few guys on our team who have been four-year starters,” he said. “It’s not something that happened overnight…you’ve seen a maturation of them as individuals and as our team…this is a time for our guys to really showcase their skills.”
In the offseason, Scretchen said the key to beating high-caliber teams was, “playing with confidence,” and, “hitting them right in the mouth.” Months later, that sense of confidence has stayed with him and his teammates.
“We’re the best team in the district,” Scretchen said. “We just have to show that.”
