California dreaming

By Michael Ashcraft --

The Lighthouse Christian Academy suffered a stinging basketball loss 10-60 against Highland Hall Waldorf School of Northridge Monday. Was anything else to be expected when freshmen played seniors?

"We got a very young team, and we're still trying to figure out our positions and solve some of these kinks in our defense," said Assistant Coach Felipe Rodriguez. "Our guys had trouble finding their zones, finding their open spots. We definitely need to focus on boxing out on defense. A primary reason for our loss today is we were giving our opponents multiple opportunities to rebound and score baskets."

The boys from the freshman class loved basketball middle school and did tolerably well on their 8th grade team.

Then they came to high school, hoping to command the court. Their story has been other.

But the love of the game continues and the learning of the finer points. At Monday's game, it was evident that the Saints had improved over their first game; passing was quicker and they didn't look quite so slo-mo. They didn't commit so many fouls.

They need to keep learning and improving every game.

On Monday, the mostly freshman team was defeated by a mostly senior team.

Give them four years.

About this writer: Mike Ashcraft teaches journalism at the Lighthouse Christian Academy of Santa Monica.