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Chambers Academy’s boys basketball team struggled to close out Trinity Christian at home on Monday as the Rebels fell 45-40. 

Chambers Academy has struggled to find chemistry and fluidity within the offense to start the season. A lot of that is due to a lack of time on the court together. 

The Rebels’ football season ended on Nov. 16. Every player in the basketball team’s starting lineup was on that team. With the prolonged football season, basketball practice has been few and far between. 

“We’re just not very good right now,” Chambers Academy coach Jason Allen said. “We’re still playing football. We’ll get better. We’ve just got to stay patient and keep working.” 

Chambers Academy had a chance to win all the way up until the final buzzer. The Rebels had the ball down 3 with just under 19 seconds left on the clock. Koreen Henry went to the free-throw line and hit one of his two attempts. Then, Trinity was able to close the game out from the charity stripe. 

Grey Hayley led Chambers Academy with 12 points, five rebounds, one block and one steal. Ryan Smith followed Haylet with nine points and five rebounds. All of Smith’s points came from behind the arc in the first half. 

Austin Brooks fouled out in the fourth quarter, but he finished with four points, six rebounds and two steals. 

The Rebels shot 40% from the three-point line on 10 attempts. Chambers Academy only connected on one three-pointer in the second half. 

Chambers Academy’s biggest struggle came from the charity stripe. The Rebels only connected on five of their 14 free throw attempts. 

“That’s on the kids, they’ve got to work at it,” Allen said. “We shoot them in practice, but we obviously haven’t been practicing very long.” 

The loss on Monday dropped Chambers Academy’s record to 1-1 on the season. Up next for the Rebels is a home matchup against Springwood on Thursday.