The shots didn’t fall for the Pike Liberal Arts Patriots as they dropped a key AISA Class 3A game to Hooper Academy, 42-31 on Thursday.

“We had a good effort tonight,” said Patriots head coach Allan Ponder. “We just didn’t put up a good enough effort offensively tonight. Defensively we did a better job at rebounding the basketball. Offensively we just weren’t able to get a lot from our half court offense and that is a credit to Hooper.”

Ponder said Hooper did a good job at mixing up the defense and keeping the Patriots on their toes.

“They did a good job mixing up their defenses,” Ponder said. “It gave us trouble. We did have positives, and we will work with those and get better for next week.”

The Patriots were down eight or nine points throughout most of the first half until they were able to close the gap heading into halftime. A late-quarter three-point shot gave Hooper momentum heading into the half.

This was the first time this season the Patriots have matched up with someone from Class 3A, and the game gave Ponder and the players a good idea where they are as a team.

“There are a lot of positives,” Ponder said. “Nobody is giving up on the season. We are going to continue to work and get better and turn this thing around.”

Ponder said J.T. Ball had a good game running the point and played a good game defensively. C.J. Allen also had a good night playing down low for the Patriots.

Pike (1-3) will be back in action next Thursday when they travel to Grady to take on South Montgomery Christian Academy at 7 p.m.

“Next Thursday will be the first time all season that we will have played with our full team,” Allen said. We are excited about that. We will get back to work and start working on our fundamentals.