By GREG MENGELT
A lot of coaches would be searching for answering after losing his season opener. Not Hayden Casey.
Casey liked his Warriors’ effort in their season-opening loss to Clarksville.
“Overall, I was happy with our performance in our opener,” the second-year CAI general said. “Opening at Clarksville against a great team and against one of the better players we’ll play all year in Dakota Capps was a tough test for our guys, but there were still a lot of positives to take away. Our guys battled and played hard the entire game and the things that we noticed during the game or that I’ve already seen on film that we need to fix to be better are things we definitely can correct.”
Casey did see one thing his team needs to correct. It’s the same thing most coaches are dealing with early in the season.
“We’ll have to do a better job with shot selection,” Casey said. “We have a lot of great shooters and I’m never going to tell great shooters to not shoot open shots, but the next level for us is realizing what’s a good shot and then what’s a great shot.”
Casey and his Warriors won’t have much time. They go to Kentucky on Monday to face Portland Christian in the Hoosier Hills Hoops Game of the Night.
It is the season opener for the Eagles and it is the first time CAI and Portland Christian have played. The Eagles’ top three scorers are gone from last year. Senior Owen Sees, who averaged 11.4 points last year, is expected to be their leading returning player.
“There’s only so much you can learn and gather from film from last season and it also looks like they have a new coach this year, so we’ll have to see,” Casey said. “With all that and adding in that this will be the first time we’ve played them, we’ll have to learn and adjust quickly after the ball is tipped.”
Casey said he’s looking forward to what his team can accomplish in 2021-22 after last year’s 9-17 record in his first leading the program.
“We have a great mix of experience and very young talent that have been working hard and have been coachable every day to get better and come together to play as the best team we can be,” he said. “We still have to figure some things out and it could take a while to do that. We have a ways to go to be the best team we can be, but that’s encouraging in a way because this group can be a very good team if we end up playing our best.”
TODAY’S GAME | MONDAY, NOV. 29
GAME OF THE NIGHT
CHRISTIAN ACADEMY (0-1) AT PORTLAND CHRISTIAN (KY.) (0-0)
• Time: 7 p.m.
• Location: Fellowship Church, Louisville.
• Coaches:
CAI — Hayden Casey (9-17 in second season at CAI).
Portland Christian — Mike Tucker (no record information available).
• Most recent game:
CAI — Lost at Clarksville 67-52 (Nov. 27).
Portland Christian — Lost at St. Francis (Ky.) 82-74 (March 15).
• Last 20 years: 3-3. The last meeting between the programs was almost 15 years ago.
• Most recent meeting: Jan. 2, 2007 — Portland Christian 61, Christian Academy 56.
• News and notes: After being tied 26-26 at halftime, Christian Academy was outscored 22-9 in the third quarter by Clarksville. … Brady Dunn (21) and Joshua Renfro (18) combined for 39 of the Warriors’ 52 points in the loss at Clarksville. … This is the season opener for Portland Christian, which has one senior — Keaton Hall — on its roster. … The Eagles went 10-17 last year, finishing 15th in the Region 7 standings.
• Outlook: What to expect from Portland Christian is a mystery to Casey and a mystery to us, so we’ll take the Warriors.
• Greg’s pick: CAI 65, Portland Christian 56.
