With about one-third of the season now gone, Juneau men's coach George Houston assesses his team a current grade of B-minus.
The Dimond Lynx are probably wondering what it takes to get on the Principal's List around here.
The Crimson Bears ran their season record to 7-0 and their win streak to 23 games with a convincing 79-51 win over the Lynx on Sunday at Juneau-Douglas High School to sweep the Homecoming weekend set.
The teams were forced into a Sunday matinee because the Lynx missed Friday's scheduled matchup - they couldn't get into town until Saturday due to poor weather.
Juneau senior center Carlos Boozer again had game-highs in points (26) and rebounds (13) to spearhead the Bears' effort. His numbers on Saturday were equally impressive - 28 points and 13 rebounds - but that's where the similarities ended.
On Saturday, the Lynx (1-7) made things interesting with a late rally that cut Juneau's lead to six points before they fell by a 64-53 count. There were no such dramatics on Sunday.
"We showed 'em the tape of (Saturday's) game and talked to them in terms of improving our defensive intensity," Houston said of his team after Sunday's win. "We were soft at times (on Saturday), we didn't really get out and get after `em."
Houston said that inconsistency is the primary reason he gave a bit of an average B-minus season-to-date grade to his team that is undefeated in nearly a year of play - the Bears' last loss came to East Anchorage on Jan. 23, 1998.
"We have to learn how to play hard all the time. I was really pleased with tonight's effort," Houston said. "We did a lot better."
Boozer, meanwhile, was just as good as he's ever been. He's canned a remarkable 70 percent of his field goals this year, and actually improved upon that Sunday when he hit 12 of his 14 shots.
It's becoming apparent that nobody can stop him - nobody's even slowed him to a warp speed yet. But Boozer said he doesn't fall into the trap of believing he's indefensible.
"As a player you can't think like that," he reasoned, although many of the Lynx might have been thinking that for him. "You have to stay hungry as a student of the game. You have to progress individually."
Boozer will be the first to admit that his teammates - particularly James Wilson, Christian Carpeneti and Evan Tromble on this particular weekend - are at least partly responsible for his shooting success. They set him up with a steady diet of pinpoint alley-oop passes that Boozer jams with authority.
Wilson hit 13 points Sunday and added five assists and three steals. He canned three treys; Juneau was a sizzling 9-of-15 from beyond the three-point arc.
"Yesterday was pretty bad," Wilson said of Juneau's narrow win. "We won by what, 12 points? Look at today. We played a lot harder on defense. When you play defense better it makes the offense easier."
Tromble had four points and five rebounds, and Carpeneti (10 points, 3 assists) continues to look stronger as he bounces back from his early season knee injury.
"I think we've shown progress," Carpeneti said of the Bears on Sunday. "Even right here in this series."
Point guard Rob Ridgeway (5 points) is playing a bigger role in the offense lately. Grady Treston (10 points, 3 rebounds) and Rick Carte (4 points, 7 rebounds) also played likely their strongest games of the season.
"I wish (Treston) could play every day like he played tonight," Houston said. "Him, (Nick) Tyner and Carte all played well. And VanderJack did too, his first time coming off the bench."
Carpeneti got his first starting nod of the year, bumping VanderJack from the lineup.
"I think we have the potential to be a pretty good team, but we can't be satisfied," Houston said. "Now we've got six games on the road, including two (league games) in Sitka, that's important. And next week is finals week - there's a tremendous amount going on. We've gotta make sure they focus, we have to step up our defensive intensity and play hard every time."
And if they do, maybe Houston will give them a B-plus on their mid-season exam.
