Tough battle on the hardwood at the LIT.

On January 13, the Chargers faced the Ballard Bruins at Valley Traditional High School in the annual Louisville Invitational Tournament (LIT).

Bullitt East kept the game close throughout. Students and staff showed up to support their team. The Chargers started the game with an early lead, but lost the game by a final score of 72-61.

The Chargers won the tip off and got a quick three pointer by senior guard Jared Osborne. With a quick lead in the first quarter, the Chargers had the momentum. “The beginning of the game was working well for us because we were sharing the ball well and most of our shots were falling,” said junior point guard, Sean Johnson. Senior guard Connor Green led the team with 22 points and point guard Luke Ezell picked up 16 points.

The LIT began Monday and the Chargers faced Pleasure Ridge Park High School on Tuesday and defeated the Panthers 68-48.  Bullitt East was ranked the fifth seed in the tournament. “Playing in the LIT is always huge every year. Playing in the LIT this year was really fun and exciting. There was a big crowd and it’s always fun to play in front of a lot of fans to show them what the team has to offer,” said Johnson.

Teachers and students came out to support the Chargers. “It was great to have the fans of Bullitt East come out and watch us play. We love having big crowds for games like that. It makes it very exciting,” said Johnson.

“None of us like losing. The team in general was unhappy that we didn’t get the win, but we knew we gave everything we had. Coach Couch was very proud of the effort we gave the entire game. He was very proud of how we bounced back in the second quarter after being down 18 at one point and we came back to tie the game up,” said Johnson. The Chargers ended the game with a 43.8% field goal percentage. Ballard finished with a 45.3% field goal percentage. Bullitt East made 21 out of 48 shots and recorded a low 23.1% three point percentage. Green and the Chargers outscored the Bruins 20-13 in the second quarter.

Turnovers hurt the Chargers as they committed 17 of them in the game. “I think we could improve on taking care of the ball a little bit more. We had turnovers in some of the most crucial points of the game that hurt us. Other than that. I think we gave our hardest efforts,” said Johnson.

Bullitt East returns to action on January 18 against DuPont Manual at home.