Chris Roche Quotations

One of the great things about athletics is that it really tests your character. I'm eager to see how we respond this week. Not in terms of wins, losses, league championships, or anything like that, but in terms of our team competitiveness. Our team pride. Our guts. Are we going to shy away from these challenges, or are we going to stand up and fight?

I would rather be in the position we are in than that of any other team. I'm excited to see how we attack things these last two weeks.

He has worked as hard as anyone in our program to improve and his dedication is paying off. It is really a treat to watch him blossom right before our eyes this year.

He was a huge key in this game. Given La Salle's size, we knew our defensive post play would be critical and Landon stepped up and played a strong game.

I thought Connor handled the situation with great poise, and he did not force anything. Our other guys did enough to win.

Our guys were motivated tonight and wanted to give a great effort given how we played them the first time around.

We now know there's a team out there that is better than us. And between now and the end of the year, we have to improve. There's a target out there for us.

That was a huge shot by Spencer, and it gave us a chance on a night when we really played sub-par. He's a clutch kid, and a confident shooter. It was fun seeing him drill that shot.

Trevor and Spencer are both great shooters and when we are patient and focused on getting great shots like we were tonight. They both are going to shoot a very high percentage no matter who we play.

We are playing better and more consistently. I think our kids want to finish strong and I think we are figuring out that leadership, for us, is doing whatever it takes to produce a great effort and do tough things in the very next game.

Those three guys have been great leaders for us all year and they're all playing well.

Those plays were huge. Connor seized the moment. He is very unselfish, but he also is not afraid to take and make the big shot.

Connor is important to us in every game, but especially against a team like Madras. They press, trap and gamble all over the floor and they're very good at it. Taking your best ball-handler out of the game for most of the first half is not Plan A.

Elias Eave was spectacular tonight. He's really finding a nice rhythm on the block and beginning to utilize varied post moves to score.

That was a big blow. He was just kind of in the wrong spot at the wrong time tonight. He ignites much of what we do and to have him sitting on the bench made it tougher for us.

They played harder, tougher and smarter. They deserved to win. That was one of our mentally softest efforts of the year, but at least there's some silver lining in there that we can still be close.

They are a very good team with a couple of great players in (Tyson) Christie and (Adam) Phillips. They're well-coached, tough and physical. We knew it would take a great effort to have a chance.

Alex is a great leader on this team practicing very hard every day without the promise of playing time. He's a very good shooter and everybody on our team respects his work ethic and I'm delighted he took advantage of the opportunity he was given tonight.

The game for us was like our game at Estacada we lacked focus, intensity and toughness. And they simply beat us.