The Jan. 24 fourth-and fifth-grade match-up at Langston Hughes Elementary saw the Blue Devils’ offense struggle to put points on the board and the Horned Frogs rack up one more win before heading into the post-season by defeating the Devils 42-15.

“Our shooting was really good tonight,” said Horned Frog Tristan Turner. “Our defensemen also did well on boxing out.”

Horned Frog Keith Loneker, right, chases down the sideline after Blue Devil Adam Rea during the Jan. 24 game at Langston Hughes Elementary.

The Horned Frogs set the tone for the rest of the game, winning the tip off. However, the Blue Devils landed the first points of the game within the first two minutes.

Bryce Montes de Oca responded with a two-pointer for the Horned Frogs, tying up the game. Montes de Oca followed with another two points, giving the Frogs a lead they would maintain for the rest of the game.

Keith Loneker furthered the Frogs’ lead, giving his team another two points. Despite the four-point lead, the Blue Devils maintained a calm and confident front throughout the game with Blake Meyers calmly leading the Devils on the boards. This collected attitude allowed the Blue Devils’ Cole Meyers to slightly narrow the lead, laying up the rock. The Frogs would answer back with another chance to play keep away with a two free-throw opportunity.

Towards the end of the period, the Blue Devils had problems with ball handling, allowing the Frogs to dominate possession of the ball. The first quarter finished out 11-4 in favor of the Horned Frogs.

The Blue Devils managed to stay defensive against the Frogs going into the second quarter; however, they still could not close the gap. Both teams notched shots in the first four minutes.

The first half of the second quarter saw little scoring with Montes de Oca landing one free throw for the Frogs, followed by Adam Rea landing a free throw for the Devils. Rea then took the ball on a full court press, only to be blocked by the Frogs’ defense.

The two teams fought back and forth, with the Devils hammering home two points mere seconds before the buzzer, ending the first half of the game with Frogs on top by eight.

The Frogs started out the third quarter landing the first hoop of the second half. The woes for the Devils did not end there. While the Devils only racked up three more points on the board, the Frogs pushed up and down the court, scoring 14 points and ending the third quarter leading 34-15.

Expanding their lead, the Frogs landed the first basket of the fourth quarter. The Devils managed to step up the defense by allowing fewer shots, but just couldn’t get the ball past the Frogs’ defense at the other end of the court. Through pressure and good ball handling the Horned Frogs managed to keep the Devils cornered, allowing three shots within four minutes. The game ended with an easy win for the Horned Frogs,

Steve Seratte, Blue Devils head coach, said the biggest problem they had was shooting against a tough team.

“They’re a really good team,” he said. “We can’t shoot though, and we know that, but our guys hustle and play hard.”

Blue Devil Josh Hess agreed. “We played good defense,” he said. “But we had issues making our shots.”

“We did really well on defense,” agreed Rea. “We did well on passing, too. We could have made some more shots and really stepped up our offense.”

Both Chris Allen and Josh Saathoff agreed that shooting was the key to the Frogs’ win, but they said their performance wasn’t completely flawless.

“We need to work on getting the ball down court,” Allen said. “Our defense was good, but we really needed to work on setting up faster.”

“Our plays worked well,” Saathoff said. “But, we could have done better on our rebounds.”