Growing pains always present themselves early in boys basketball season

COLORADO SPRINGS – Rock Canyon boys basketball coach Kent Grams knew that teaching a young team how to play together is always a challenge at the high school level.

Expectations of sleep – even well before reaching Continental League play – might have to go by the wayside.

“I’m pretty sure every game we play is going to be tough,” Grams said after his Jaguars battled to beat Doherty 71-68 on Thursday.

Even five games in, with a feeling out process well in motion, nothing came easy for the Jags in Sparta. It was Doherty’s season debut and played every bit like a team that was ready for game action.

Seven different players scored for the Spartans (0-1 overall) as they battled their way a seven-point lead late in the first half. And that was without guard Elijah Mack doing a lot of scoring on the offensive side. He scored just four of his team-high 20 points in the first half, and both field goals came in the second quarter. Zander Muna led the Spartans with 13 points at halftime, but was held scoreless in the final two quarters.

With a Utah trip already under its belt, Rock Canyon looked like a team trying to weather the storm, but Doherty kept raining in baskets through three quarters.

“It’s a hard place to play,” Grams said. “We drive all the way here, the backdrops, the gym is way different. It’s hard. We’ve been here before and I’ve had conversations with you after and a few of those have been after losses.”

By all accounts, the Jaguars (3-3) didn’t play bad but as a young team, it’s been learning how to battle. A trip to Utah resulted in their first two wins of the season and they rolled into Colorado Springs without a win against a Colorado opponent. In fact, they had lost their season opener since 2020 when they fell to George Washington.

After getting outscored in the first and second quarters, the Jags went into the second half fully knowing that the hardest of work was still ahead of them,

“We were trusting our coach,” sophomore wing Jacob David said. “He’s a great coach and when we trust him and trust our team, we can play with anybody. We just have to play ball the right way.”

That means holding up their end on the defensive side of the ball as well as getting the best open looks on offensive. It’s almost the best way to sum up Rock Canyon’s approach with Grams at the helm. Be patient and take advantage of the best opportunities when they come open. And play defense.

When those aspects came together, the Jags clawed their way into the lead in the fourth quarter. David and Karen Lehman each knocked down clutch 3-pointers and the Jags cut off almost all Doherty scoring avenues outside of Mack. The Spartans scored 11 points in the fourth quarter and Mack had all but three of them. David finished with a game-high 25 points and Lehman added 15.

Life doesn’t get a lot easier for either team in the coming days. Doherty heads to Ralston Valley where the Mustangs have dreams of knocking defending state champion Valor Christian off the Jeffco League perch and Rock Canyon takes on Overland, a team that has gone toe-to-toe with Chaparral and beaten George Washington.

“I’m going to be exhausted after every game,” Grams said. “There is so much teaching that has to be done right now and there’s not a better time to do it. In these game situations, in critical moments, you have to be great.”

For both teams on Thursday, there was the same lesson learned. To be great in Class 6A basketball this year, there will be growing pains along the way.