By JOSH FRYE
News Sportswriter
The Rams of Atmore Christian came up short, 64-54, against the Saints of Central Christian School in Robertsdale last Tuesday, December 17, despite double-figures efforts from Caeden Battles, Jadon Torres, and Gage Gades.
Battles led the Rams with 14 points, while Torres added 11, and Gades got 10.
Battles hit three two-point shots, a three-pointer and five free throws. He also pulled down 11 rebounds (four offensive, seven defensive) and had five assists.
Most of the assists were feeds to Torres and Gades.
Despite the numbers the trio put up, a slow start helped throw a wrench in the ACS game plan.
“We just had a slow start,” said Rams head coach Tim Battles. “We have to work on shooting percentage going forward, but the biggest thing is starting games off on the right hand. We have to put pressure on teams out of the gate.”
Other ACS players who registered points during the game were Reese White (9), Titus Dean (7), Emmett Battles (2) and Drew Shelly (1).
The Rams are not slated to return to the court until January 9, when they will host Lead.
“We have two games that we are pretty confident about when we return from the Christmas break,” said Battles. “The guys will be working on cardio and other areas during the break, but we will have at least four practices to get back into things when we return. After that, we face Leads and Aletheia, but then have a gauntlet that we will have to run against tough teams.”
Lighthouse, Emmanuel, S.L. Jones and Central Christian are all on the list, followed by an out-of-state tournament that will throw some major challenges to the Rams.