12/28/09 - State Farm Classic - Tri-Valley
January 11, 2010
12/28/09 –Rock Falls 48 Downs Tri-Valley 32
Rockets open Bloomington Classic with victory,
Strong 2nd half defense shuts down opponent
By Bob Martin
Downs Tri-Valley 7 13 8 4 32
Rock Falls 14 15 9 10 48
This is the Rockets 10th trip to Bloomington to play in the Christmas tournament and they entered with an overall record of 20-17 over these years. Rock Falls (6-5, 1-1) is hoping to improve on last year’s disappointing 1-3 results when they played as a large school in the 3A-4A tournament. This year the Rockets are entered as a 2A school and are seeded #2. The Rockets last faced the 15th seeded Downs Tri-Valley in 2000 when they defeated the Vikings 66-54.
To play at 11:30 am shortly after Christmas is not fun and in the beginning, the Rockets had difficulty finding their legs. After halftime, they took the floor with renewed energy and held Downs to 12 points for the second half and came away with a 16 point victory. Happily for the Rockets, injured JC McNinch returned to the line up for the first time this season and showed why Rocket fans have missed him; providing a needed surge of overall energy and punch to the Rocket offense. For the game Dylan Austin was the high scorer with 15 points , the only Rocket in double figures.
The Rockets scored first in the contest and never lost it the rest of the way. When McNinch entered the game the Rockets led 4-2 and he quickly started his season by draining a 3 ball (assist Brett Chappel). By the end of the 1st quarter McNinch had scored 7 points and the Rockets led 14-7. Austin chipped in with 4 points and 2 steals during this stanza as well.
In the 2nd quarter Austin carried the Rockets with 7 points with Gordo Barron chipping in 4 points and Jake Junis hitting on a long ball (assist Chappell). The Rockets led by 9 points at halftime (29-20).
In the 3rd quarter Matt Lauts came to life scoring 7 of the Rocket’s 8 points for the period and the Rockets took a 10 point lead into the final stanza (38-28).
To start the 4th quarter the Vikings scored on a 3 point play to give themselves a chance, but importantly the Rockets countered when Lauts achieved a tip-in, was fouled, and converted to return the lead to double figures. Downs Tri-Valley would only add 1 free throw the rest of the way and the Rockets effectively killed the clock and did a good job on converting free throws to achieve a 16 point victory.
Rocket Scorers:
Dylan Austin 15
Matt Lauts 9
JC McNinch 7
Jake Junis 6
Shay Brown 5
Gordo Barron 5
Brett Chappell 1
