Bertrand Kamga (2006 & 2007 All-CIF Selection) Photo Courtesy of MaxPreps

The Fighting Frogs concluded another productive week of practice with a 15+ point win over Cathedral, increasing their Fall League record to 5-2. Having won their 4th consecutive game, even with in the midst of a busy homecoming week, the Fighting Frogs looked a little shaky to start the game versus Cathedral but continued to improve as the game progressed. With only a 4 point lead at halftime, Coach Middlebrooks expressed very little concern and the 2nd half performance of the team demonstrated why. The team completely dominated the 2nd half, taking the lead as high as 21 points. The Frogs will have this week off to rest, study and take midterm exams. The team however will suit up on Saturday to play their final Fall League contest as the regular season is now less than one (1) month away.



Coach Middlebrooks commented, “We felt pretty good about our progress this week. We are nursing a couple of injuries and trying to get through the football season as well so the guys have a lot on their plates, particularly with midterms being this week. We want our guys to be fresh when they take the exams so we are using our class time to study instead of practice, which will hopefully allow them to get to bed a little earlier and be well rested for their tests.



In terms of things I saw this week, I am particularly pleased with PJ Dunn’s performance this week. I liked his energy in practice and it translated to his physical play during the game against Cathedral. I also think we made progress with executing our offense. We are still having challenges there but we are headed in the right direction. Our point guard has to really start understanding running the team and we coached that a lot through the week and in the game so I think he is starting to understand his role a lot better. Having a week off, we will lose some momentum and get a little rusty but our guys can handle it. This Saturday will be interesting to see how we compete and fight through the hardships that will come from taking a week off, which is important because we do take off several days for final exams during the regular season and we have to play on a Friday right at the end of final exams so this will give us a little preparation for what we will experience in January.



Defensively I thought we looked pretty good early but then got a little sluggish as the first half progressed. When you coach young people that can happen. They get complacent with a lead and don’t always understand that they have to work even harder to keep the lead than they might have done to get the lead. Opponents are more motivated to catch up so they bring more energy and if you let down your energy that is how momentum can shift in a game. But our defense picked up in the 2nd half and I thought we maintained our intensity, which ultimately got us the win. We have a lot of work to do but we have a solid foundation to build on as we prepare to tip-off the season on December 4th.”