Having a young team can come with its fair share of burdens. The Pattonville Pirates boys’ basketball team lost all three of its match-ups at the 52nd Annual Jerry Boeckman Memorial Invitational Tournament at Vianney High School playing games against Hazelwood East, Vianney, and St. Mary’s.

• Hazelwood East 75, Pattonville 39
• Vianney 67, Pattonville 49
•  St Mary’s 57, Pattonville 54

After going to Friday night’s game against St. Mary’s, I can break down the team’s struggles into three main categories. The first is ball movement, the second is points in the paint, and the last – and most important – was the ability to rebound on the offensive and defensive side of the ball.

“The main thing we have to work on going into next week’s game are the three E’s,” said senior center DeAndre James.

For those that don’t know, the three E’s are Energy, Effort, and Enthusiasm. It’s a slogan the team adopted a few years back and has stuck with the team ever since.

Luckily, the team will not face Vianney or St. Mary’s for the rest of the season, but the team will have to worry about Hazelwood East at least one more time this year. The Spartans managed to beat the No. 7-seeded Pirates by 38 points in the first round of the tournament.

East has considerable size on the Pirates and they also have the 3-point shooting ability to go along with their height.

There is no need to start stressing if you’re the Pattonville coaching staff because star senior Julius Erby will be back in action as early as the home-opener against Jennings on Dec. 14. Erby has not appeared in a game since his sophomore season but is an impactful big man that can give you 20 and 10 each game. With him back on the floor, the Pirates rebounding struggles should fade away as the 6-foot-3-inch senior will help clean the boards for Pattonville.

The team’s next game will be against Brandon Wiggs and his St. Charles Pirates on Dec. 4 at 6:30 p.m. at St. Charles.