There were uplifting moments during East Mountain’s Feb. 22 game against the visiting Cuba Rams. The Timberwolves’ final home game of the season featured a lead-changing second-quarter spurt of scoring, scrappy defense here and there, a rare 3-point shot and a sparse but loud crowd showing its support.
But in the end, East Mountain’s young squad—with no seniors on its roster—came up short, 53-46.
In many ways, East Mountain’s 12th straight loss mirrored its entire season: The team has played hard in every game but lacks the experience to put all the pieces together to garner more than a handful of victories.
“Bosque’s a tough team in our district, but aside from them, the games have mainly been competitive,” Brad Hofmann, East Mountain’s first-year head coach said. “We just haven’t quite been able to get over the hump.”
The matchup with Cuba got off to a slow start, brimming with missed shots and turnovers. Nearly three minutes elapsed before Cuba took a 1-0 lead on a free throw. The first quarter ended with both teams lodged in single digits.
East Mountain picked up a little momentum in the second quarter with a 9-0 run to lift the Timberwolves to a 14-8 lead.
“We got it going on that little roll,” Hofmann said.
The 9-0 sprint included a 3-point shot by Aidan Erickson. Erickson’s 3-pointer generated a thunderous reaction from the home fans.
“That was one of my only threes this season,” Erickson said. “I was very amped, all that excitement, at that moment I felt like we could do it, we were like, ‘We got this.’”
But Cuba responded with a 9-0 surge of its own to regain the lead for good.
East Mountain pulled withing three points midway through the third quarter when Evren Neal was fouled while attempting a 3-pointer, and a Cuba player was subsequently called for a technical foul for unsportsmanlike conduct. Neal went to the foul line to shoot five free throws and he knocked down four of them.
“I’ve been working on my free throws,” Neal said. “I’ve been in the gym trying to work on it and it paid off.”
The Timberwolves only made one field goal in the entire third period—an Erickson layup at the buzzer. Cuba had a 36-28 at the end of the stanza.
Cuba led by as many as 13 points in the fourth quarter before the Timberwolves trimmed the margin to eight for the final score.
“It’s definitely tough,” Neal said of the loss. He scored a game-high 18 points.
Erickson, who scored 15, echoed his teammate that it was a tough loss, but he noted that his focus is on the future.
“I feel like we have a really strong team, we all love each other very much,” said Erickson, who is a sophomore. “Everyone is very talented, has a ton of potential, and I think we can become an excellent team in our district.”
Hofmann agreed that his team has a lot of room for growth and improvement.
“I’m excited about where we can go as a group,” Hofmann said.