In their 61-51 victory over the Grace Brethren Lancers on Friday, Dec. 19, the boys’ basketball team, according to Andrew Manley ‘19, “played well” but “didn’t play under control.”

This style of play was seen throughout the game, even in the very first play, when Foothill won the tip, but missed a shot at the rim.

To counteract, Nate Bova ‘19 got a steal on the other end and scored a layup, giving the Dragons the lead, which they would keep throughout the game.

Grace Brethren got on the board with one free throw, but Cameron Strain ‘18 made a layup assisted by Nate Bova shortly after.

Colin Vallance ‘18 contributed two points after getting fouled and making both free throws, then Cisco Lomax ‘18 hit a corner three in transition.

Nate Bova followed with a three of his own as well as a fast break layup assisted by Vallance. Then, Manley finished the first quarter with a board and got fouled going back up; his free throw gave the Dragons a 21-8 lead at the end of the quarter.

Two minutes into the second quarter, Manley took the ball to the rim, adding two points to Foothill’s lead, but Grace Brethren retaliated with two three-pointers. The Lancer excitement, however, was short lived, as Manley hit his own three for the Dragons and got a block on the other end.

Coach Dean Prophet noticed Manley’s work, “Andrew had some good minutes for us,” he said.

Lomax hit a free throw and Vallance got a layup in transition assisted by Jagger Dadigan ‘19. Strain got a rebound and put back, but shortly after committed a technical foul, giving Grace Brethren two free throws.

After Vallance hit a jump shot assisted by Lomax, and Trey Jackson ‘18 finished a layup off a pass from Jack Vielbig ‘19, the Lancers ended the quarter with two free throws and a buzzerbeater from deep, putting the score at the end of the first half at 39-29.

Despite the win, Prophet said that “this game was a struggle for us” and that Grace Brethren was “a little more physical than we expected.” He also added that “we wanted to give a lot of minutes out to different people and I think that sort of took us out of our game.”

Jackson agreed that they “should have blown that team out.”

Nate Bova got the ball rolling in the next half with a three pointer which he got fouled on. Though he missed the free throw on the four point play, he came back with a layup in the next Dragon possession.

Grace Brethren never made a comeback, but continued to maintain the point gap with mostly three pointers and free throws.

A three point play by Bodhi McDonald ‘20 followed by a three at the top of the key for Vielbig and a put back for Lomax ended the third quarter, the score 57-40.

In the fourth quarter the Dragons committed their tenth team foul putting the Lancers in double bonus. Foothill scored only four points and Grace Brethren eleven, at the final buzzer the scoreboard read 61-51.

“Next time they need to be more poised and have a lot more composure,” Prophet said.