Valencia’s offense was working like it usually does on Wednesday night, but the defense struggled against Campbell Hall, as Valencia fell 77-71 at Heritage Christian High School.
Valencia was able to keep pace with Campbell Hall for most of the night, trailing by only two points at the end of each quarter.
Campbell Hall was relentless at attacking the basket and was able to get key offensive rebounds, extending its lead in the fourth quarter and ultimately coming away with the victory.
Valencia coach Bill Bedgood believes his team was simply outmatched physically. He didn’t see the effort he wanted out of his team.
“We’re not being physical enough. That is a very physical team. They are aggressive and I feel they were more aggressive than us tonight,” he said. “They kept coming on the glass and we weren’t physical on our box outs. We weren’t rebounding hard on the other end.”
Sharpshooting guard Jake Hlywiak did his best to keep Valencia in the game. He hit 5-of-9 3-pointers and made 8-of-9 free throws to finish with 25 points and four rebounds.
Senior forward Josh Assiff scored 20 points, but it took him 25 shots to get there. He also added eight rebounds and two assists.
Bedgood said the offense hasn’t been the issue so far this season. His team can score with the best of them. He believes that if his team wants to reach the next level, they must shore up the defense and play hard for four straight quarters.
“We need to practice defense and get better at it. Offensively we’re fine, but defensively we can be so much better,” he said. “Guys have to care more. I feel like guys don’t care if the other team scores, it doesn’t hurt bad enough.”
Valencia will try to shake off the loss when it faces Granada Hills on Friday at 8 p.m. at Alemany High School.
