Quite the opposite in fact.

The Cardinals continued to improve on the practice court all week leading up to a 62-22 drubbing of nonleague CSAT on Friday evening.

That win included a 21-point, 10-rebound double-double from Gabe McCoy as well as 20 points, six rebounds and six assists from Tyler Hind.

“Just really happy since the second half last Friday against Southwestern,” said Randolph head coach Kevin Hind. “Kaleb Steward was gone for that game, but the rest of the guys really stepped up. They really understood that everyone was going to need to be important and valuable. From that day we had practice Sunday, and it has just been a great week of practice. I just thought we played hard, played really hard. We gave them nothing easy and made them work for everything they had. Just a great team win.”

Randolph’s Caleb Steward drives to the basket during Friday night’s nonleague basketball game against CSAT.

Randolph is now 4-1 on the year as it prepares to head into its Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association season. Despite being without the services of Steward last week, the Cardinals were able to pick up a 66-59 win over the Trojans in hostile territory.

“We had a wakeup call last week,” Hind said. “We weren’t really ready with one of our main guys out. That allowed guys to realize that they are valuable, that everyone needs to be working hard every day.”

Steward would return to the lineup on Friday and chip in 7 points, but early on it was the combination of Hind and McCoy that the Eagles had no answer for.

Randolph would break out to a 19-4 lead as Hind knocked down a jumper and a pair of foul shots while McCoy got his night started with a bucket in the post. Steward was fouled on a fast break early on and would turn that into an old-fashioned three-point play with a make at the foul line, next dishing to Hind off an inbounds pass for an assist.

Showing just how dominant a player he can be, Hind would give the hosts a 22-point lead after a steal that led to an and-one finish to bring the Cardinals crowd to its feet.

Randolph’s Tyler Hind is closely guarded by CSAT’s Quincy Drake.

Early on in the second quarter, McCoy benefited from a nice stretch play by Hind and another clean pass from Ty Rosengren to continue his hot streak.

“Gabe had just a great week, four days in a row. He is a big key for us,” Coach Hind said. “We have our guards, if we can get some easy buckets and points and production out of him like we did (it helps). … He was a big difference maker, for sure.”

While opponents will likely know what to expect out of the Randolph offense, Coach Hind expects that his team’s growth on the defensive side of the ball could be a key factor this year.

“I bring seven out of my eight guys back from last year so it was just a matter of filling in for that one spot,” Hind said. “We’re bigger, we’re stronger than we have been. Everybody knows what they are doing. Ashton Bushey has stepped into the starting lineup. Defensively they know what we are doing, they’re all a year older, they’re all a year stronger.”

Bushey would hit home on a pair of outside shots to supplement the offense, and Randolph was able to get some playing time for its bench with the game well in hand down the stretch.

Randolph’s Ty Rosengren puts up a jumper.

The Cardinals will now travel to Salamanca on Tuesday before a pair of home games against Gowanda and Cardinal O’Hara next Friday and Saturday.

CSAT (22)

Bynes 1 0 5, Drake 2 0 4, Santana 0 2 2, Morris 0 0 0, Alvarez 0 2 2, Gabart 0 2 2, Idin 1 0 2, House 0 0 0, Hammer 0 0 0, Sanders 0 0 0, Ward 0 2 2, Pace Jr. 0 3 3. Totals 4 13 22.

RANDOLPH (62)

Steward 3 0 7, I. Hind 0 0 0, T. Hind 7 3 20, Morrison 1 0 4, Bushey 2 2 8, Shields 1 0 2, Huntington 0 0 0, Rosengren 0 0 0, McCoy 9 3 21, Clark 0 0 0. Totals 23 11 62.

CSAT 4 5 6 7–22

RANDOLPH 21 15 17 9–62

3-point goals: T. Hind 3, Bushey 2, Bynes.