Pike Liberal Arts head coach Craig Kennedy summed up the night for his two basketball teams with a saying he heard a long ago.

“Some nights you are a diamond, and others you are a stone,” said Kennedy. “Tonight we were pebbles.”

The Pike Liberal Arts Patriots dropped both games against the Hooper Academy Colts.

The varsity girls fell 37-26 in a low scoring defensive contest.

The boys rallied back from over 20 points down, to close within five in the second half, but ultimatley lost 69-53.

“We just ran out of gas late,” said Kennedy. “Our numbers are down, and we have had a couple of the boys go down with injuries. It is hard to practice, let alone play a competitive game against a good team.”

The girls were led scoring wise by Katie Ward with nine points and Carrley Barron dropped in six.

The boys were led by Chandler Avant with 19 points, and Brian Adams with 12.

“We only had 10 guys on varsity to begin with, and when injuries and sickness hit the team, it hurts,” said Kennedy. “In addition, we are a young team, with only one real senior. We just have to keep grinding away.”

The girls team is also dealing with depth issues.

“I have a seventh grader and a sophomore playing a lot of minutes,” Kennedy said. “It’s something that will change with time. All the kids try so dang hard. We just have to get more kids out to play.”

The Patriots will be back in action on Thursday at Evangel Christian Academy in Montgomery.

On Friday, Pike Liberal Arts will celebrate senior night in the friendly confines of their home gymnasium.

The host the same Hooper Colts they lost to Friday.

Tip off is set for 4 p.m.