After four straight losses against tough competition, Open Door was due for a get-right game.
The Patriots have been playing well despite the streak, and it finally came to fruition as they cruised to an 86-62 win over Black River on Jan. 11.
Through 11 games, Open Door sits at 6-5. This is a team that’s better than being just over .500, navigating the difficult schedule Coach Alan Januzzi put together. There are more hard games left on the docket, but this was a much-needed win.
PHOTOS: Open Door vs. Black River boys basketball, Jan. 11, 2024
"Our guys came out and played great," Januzzi said. "Things just haven't been going our way, but our kids just keep battling. A sign of a good team is to go through that adversity and stick together."
The last thing you want to do against the Patriots is try to go up-and-down with them. Unfortunately for Black River (1-11), that's what this game turned into. In all four quarters, Open Door scored at least 18 points and shared the ball at a high clip like it does best. Six players scored the Patriots, including five of them in double figures.
The visiting Pirates tried playing zone and trapping, but Open Door shredded it. Anthony Januzzi found his way through the traffic and was distributing the ball. Not only did the Patriots have a size advantage with Julius Moon and Aaron Pattee down low, but the zone defense made it even more difficult for Black River to rebound. The second-chance opportunities were critical in the first quarter as Open Door opened a 22-13 lead.
RJ Penney was the game's leading scorer with 22 points, but he only had two in the first quarter. He wasn't stopped at the start of the second with three straight mid-range jumpers. He was getting to his spot and Black River didn't have an answer.
"I was getting to the open spot and my teammates were making the correct pass," Penney said. "That just led to me attacking and getting some buckets. ... That's just how our team is. We have scorers all over the floor so that helps a lot. Today was just a great night for us, a good bounce-back after a four-game losing streak. Today we just got right."
The second quarter wasn't Open Door's best as Black River's half-court pressure started to work. The Pirates got multiple fast break finishes off of steals, including 10 points in the frame from Johnny Kray. He finished with a team-high 19 points.
However, despite Open Door's eight turnovers, the Pirates couldn't make a dent into the deficit. That's because the Patriots forced eight turnovers themselves as the track meet style of play started to get chaotic. Through a crazy second quarter, Open Door led by 10 at the break.
Although the game was relatively close, it felt like the Patriots were in firm control. After a big third-quarter run, there was no doubt. Leading by 13, Open Door went on a 13-2 run to extend it to 64-40.
In the third quarter alone, Januzzi scored nine points, Moon had eight and Penney had six. The three seniors combined for 58 points. If they put up that kind of production, Open Door is hard to stop.
"It's difficult because no one goes off-script (on Open Door)," Black River coach Dennis English said. "Then if they do go off-script, they're reading what the defense is giving them. ... We're learning how to compete. We've got to the point where we can compete, and that's important because you can't win until you learn that. What we've got to do is understand how to make winning plays."
Now with a win under its belt, Open Door looks to make it a winning streak on Jan. 13 when it hosts Central Christian. Through some hard times, the Patriots took the positive things and will keep trying to expand on them.
"That's our job as coaches is to make sure that you continue to focus on the positive and take the positives out of all those situations," Januzzi said. "It's a good life lesson right there. Life's going to have adversity, and you take every problem and look at it as an opportunity to get better. That's what they learned and it was reflective of that tonight in the way that they played."
