Dublin Scioto High School boys basketball coach Tony Bisutti wasn't about to judge his team's worth following last Friday's setback to the OCC-Cardinal Division favorite.
Besides being outrebounded, the Irish, who dropped to 2-1 overall and 1-1 in the league, committed 27 turnovers in the 65-39 loss to visiting Westerville South.
What matters most to Bisutti is how his young team reacts to such a loss when it goes the road for back-to-back games in the OCC-Cardinal.
On Friday, the Irish face Westerville North, which was 2-1 overall and 1-1 in the league after losing to Westerville Central 44-42 last Friday.
Scioto plays at Central on Tuesday. The Warhawks are 2-1 and 1-1.
"The schedule makers didn't feel sorry for us," Bisutti said. "But the way we look at it is that if we can come away with a win Friday that's a huge growth step for our guys and our program. We need practice this week to be as competitive as possible."
North returns only one starter in 6-foot-5 junior forward Matt Rhodes, but it has plenty of talent on the perimeter.
The Warriors, who reached a Division I district final the last two years, have three sophomore guards who see playing time in Adrian Cook (5-9) and Jack Gibbs (5-11) and Darren Nettles (5-11).
Rhodes had 16 points and junior center Taivion Thomas had 14 in the win over Central.
Central has two returning starters - senior point guard Quentin Henderson (5-10) and senior post player Nick Vannett (6-6) - from a team which reached a Division I district final a year ago.
"If we can get this next win, I think that's only going to help motivate us more," Scioto senior guard Justin Craig said. "We know practice is going to be very important this week. We've got to work hard on our transition defense."
In its first two games, Scioto's defense kept opponents in the 40s with victories over Olentangy (69-41 on Dec. 7) and Worthington Kilbourne (51-43 on Dec. 4).
Westerville South went on a 13-2 run to close the first half.
"You take away some of those transition points and it might've been different," Bisutti said. "I'm pretty happy with what I've been seeing in our half-court defense and that's something we didn't have last year."
Scioto also intends to use the week off to work on its offensive execution after missing a number of shots in the paint last Friday.
Senior guard Raneal Ewing was the top Irish scorer against South (16) and Olentangy (14). Sophomores Josh Ashwill (13) and Antonio Bisutti (11) also reached double figures against Olentangy.
"We've got to work on taking that extra pass and just getting into a flow," Craig said. "With us, I think you're going to see different people step up in every game."
While the Irish have been a balanced scoring team, coach Bisutti expects Ewing and senior post player Jamare Mills to develop into consistent scorers.
"I don't know if that third guy will be consistent, but that doesn't matter as long as we get it," coach Bisutti said. "We still have to get better offensively, but that is no surprise."
At a glance
Below are the recent results and coming schedules for the Scioto boys and girls basketball teams:
BOYS
*Dec. 7 - Defeated Olentangy 69-41. Raneal Ewing had 14 points and Josh Ashwill added 13 as Scioto outscored the Braves 21-8 in the fourth quarter.
*Last Friday - Lost to Westerville South 65-39
*Friday - At Westerville North
*Tuesday - At Westerville Central
Of note: The Irish are 2-1 overall and 1-1 in the OCC-Cardinal Division.