The Carlsbad High School boys basketball team fell off the boat last Friday night at home, hitting just 11 of 50 shots against Francis Parker.
As of Wednesday morning, the Lancers still haven’t found the water.
“We shot historically bad against Parker,” Lancers head coach Clark Allard said. “It’s hard to beat anybody when you shoot like that. They’re a great team — two high-level players, Tavid Johnson and Ezekiel Walker, and a great coach, Mason Biddle.
“We actually did a pretty good job breaking the initial trap, creating some four-on-three situations, and we got a lot of decent looks, we just couldn’t make anything fall. Holding them to 24 points in the second half was a solid accomplishment, given their offensive firepower, but we just couldn’t get over the hump.”
The 62-40 loss to Parker dropped Carlsbad to 8-10 on the season. Last year, the Lancers were Open Division section runners-up, and the year before, they were Open Division section champions.
But according to Allard, it’s not time to panic.
“We can beat anybody when we’re playing well,” Allard said. “Torrey Pines and La Costa are historically great teams, and this year is no different — both are really good. We know we can compete with La Costa; we kind of had them on the ropes, up by a couple with a few minutes left after being down 14. So, it’s not a team that’s unbeatable for us. Rancho Buena Vista has one of the best players in the county, so that’s tough.
“There are no easy games for us, but I don’t see anybody we can’t beat if we play great. It’s a different group this year, and I’d say our floor is a little lower than in the past. But pretty much every game has been close in the fourth quarter — Parker being the only exception.”
Navigating the second-hardest schedule in the county, Allard said the team has made a defensive adjustment, implementing a zone more frequently.
“We’re going to be battle-tested and ready for league, and ready for playoffs,” Allard said. “We’ve put the zone in, we’ve been playing it a decent amount, and now we’re seeing the different ways teams attack it and how we can counter. For this tail end of the year, we’ll be ready for whatever anyone throws at us. Obviously, we’d like to be a little better than 8-10 right now, but if you look at our schedule, we don’t really have any cupcakes coming in.”
The offense has been more of a work in progress after graduating 3,000-point scorer Jake Hall last year. In place of the “give Jake the ball and get out of the way” approach, Carlsbad has gone with a hot-hand-by-committee system.
Seniors Jayden Garner, Trent Mehl and Briggs Young have picked up most of the slack in Hall’s absence.
“The offense has definitely changed without Jake,” Young, a guard and Northwest Nazarene commit, told The Coast News. “We all have to step up, and everyone on the court has to be aggressive and look to score.
“I definitely feel a lot more pressure trying to lead the team and do whatever I can to help the team win. Without Jake, who led so much of our scoring, we’ve all stepped up and taken bigger roles. I think we’re defined as a team of ‘dawgs’ — guys who work their butts off.”
On playing alongside Mehl, Young added, “Playing with Trent has been awesome. He’s such a good shooter and a hustle guy who works his butt off. He’s a great player and has always been there for me throughout high school.”
“If Trent’s feeling it, or Briggs has a matchup I like, we’ll run some of the same stuff we ran for Jake,” Allard said. “Same with Jayden Garner — if he has a favorable post matchup, or someone he can take off the dribble, we’ll run plays for him. But it’s matchup dependent. With Jake, there was no question — we could run everything for him and feel pretty good about getting a bucket.
“This year, we’re seeing who’s having a good night and attacking based on our personnel and how the defense is matching up against us.”
Watching from afar, Hall, now a starting guard at the University of New Mexico, said, “They’re really fun to watch. I think they’ve got some great pieces this year. Clark’s doing a great job.”
The Lancers will look to exact revenge against the Mavericks in their league opener at 7 p.m. on Jan. 16 at La Costa Canyon.
