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Calvin Abueva was back after his no-show act and Alaska head coach feels things are starting to fall into place for the Aces.
This was despite his team absorbing yet another meltdown Wednesday night to stay winless this conference at 0-4.
“Results don’t always indicate growth. If you watched most of that game, LaDontae Henton started playing more the way that we talked about, that he needed to play before we came out here,” said Compton after the Aces dropped a 107-106 decision to TNT KaTropa in a game they led by 13 in the fourth quarter.
Import LaDontae Henton, who has been consistent for the Aces, played his best game yet this conference with 42 points and 22 rebounds.
“I can’t ask anything more. I thought he did an excellent job defensively, he rebounded the basketball, he did not limit himself to just being a three-point shooter,” said Compton of Henton.
Abueva missed a game for Alaska due to personal reasons but he returned like he never left with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
“You also saw how important Calvin is to us and I thought Calvin was great tonight. I really thought he was great,” he said.
But despite big numbers from Henton and Abueva, Alaska still couldn’t stop its seemingly interminable slide dating back to last conference.
Compton, however, is convinced Alaska’s dark days would be over soon.
“So, am I happy with 12 straight? That’s not a question you’re obviously gonna ask me—of course nobody is. I’ll tell you right now though, I think something special is about to happen to our team,” he said.
“We’re gonna come off, and we’re gonna see Alaska back. We showed flashes of it tonight.”
Alaska won’t play until Aug. 23 against Blackwater, a team which is also winless at this time.
“Today, I felt like we’re heading into the right direction. Now we got 19 days to become Alaska again. We just gotta keep working towards it. That’s all we could do.”