01/09/10 - Firefighter's Shootout - Seneca

January 11, 2010

VIEW GAME PHOTOS By Josie Anderson

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1/08/10 – Rock Falls 50 Seneca 31

Rockets knock off the Seneca Fighting Irish

By Bob Martin

Seneca 7 4 12 9 31

Rock Falls 11 14 14 11 50

In 1997, Coach Thom Sigel started the Rock Falls Shootout and the tradition of playing in early January has continued without interruption. Let’s take a look back.

Year	Opponent	Score	Result
1997	Elgin St. Edward	76-66	Loss
1998	Chicago Marshall	63-55	Win
1999	U-High	61-48	Win
2000	Abingdon	52-50	Win
2001	Prairie Central	68-49	Win
2002	Providence St. Mel	68-70	Loss
2003	Bureau Valley	75-69	Win
2004	Lisle	60-52	Win
2005	Huntley	67-55	Win
2006	MilwaukeeSouth	59-37	Win
2007	East Aurora	48-59	Loss
2008	East Aurora	62-70	Loss
2009	Machesney Park Harlem	83-87	Loss
2010	Seneca	50-31	Win

With this year’s victory, the Rockets break a 3 year losing streak resulting in an overall record of 9-5.

Seneca came to town fresh off some exciting seasons including 2004-05 when they were 33-1 and took 3^rd place at State. In 2005-06, they managed a perfect season of 35-0 as they were crowned State Champion and last year they were an impressive 26-3. This year Seneca (6-9, 2-3) is starting over having graduated the bulk of their rotation from last year. Their trademark is defense and they have held opponents to an average of 36 points this season. So this set up as a good test of the Rocket’s ability to run their revitalized offense.

Earlier in the season the Rockets at times found they had as few as 2 players on the court looking to shoot which made it pretty easy for the defense to find and shutdown the shooters. In this game, the entire rotation of 8 players was willing to shoot which resulted in a balanced scoring attack, so much so that the starters scored 25 points and the reserves accounted for the other 25! No player scored in double figures with Gordo Barron and Tevin Rumley leading the way with 9 points each. Rumley was team leader with 7 assists and steals were numerous and often shared as the Rockets employed a swarming zone defense consistently throughout the game. For the second night in a row the Rockets played with intensity for 32 minutes.

With the exception of a driving layup by Matt Lauts, the Rockets had nothing to show for their early efforts and found themselves trailing 2-7 at the 3:38 marker. Then the Rockets went on a 18-0 run and held Seneca scoreless for 7 minutes. Rumley got things started when he fed Brett Chappel on a fast break layup and minutes later when he passed to JC McNinch for a layup (6-7, 1:30). A minute later Shay Brown brilliantly stole the ball at half court and scored on the fast break layup. On the Seneca possession, Chappell followed with another steal and the Rockets held for the last shot with Dylan Austin knocking down a long ball at the buzzer (assist Rumley).

Jake Junis opened the 2^nd quarter with 2 free throws and the Rockets swarmed Seneca and stole the ball, with Austin advancing quickly to Brown who made a 3 point play as he was fouled on the fast break layup. Again the Rockets swarmed the Seneca ball handlers and stole it once again. On the subsequent inbound play under the Rock Fall’s basket, Rumley teed it up for Lauts who scored on a tip-in. Next, the shell shocked Fighting Irish stepped on the line turning it back to the Rockets and on their possession, Austin fed Rumley storming in on the left baseline who threw down a thunderous slam (20-7, 5:33). A few minutes went by without any score as each team turned it over twice and finally at the 3:20 marker Seneca scored a fieldgoal ending the Rocket run. Rock Falls immediately got back on the board as Brown fed Rumley who nailed a long ball. Seneca would score 2 more points on free throws as did the Rockets when Barron converted a one and one, and the Rockets led 25-11 at halftime. During the 1^st half the Rockets forced Seneca into 15 turnovers (they had 21 for the game against 13 for the Rockets).

Seneca opened the 3^rd period on an 8-1 run with only a free throw by Austin for the Rockets (26-19, 4:49). For 1 ½ minutes Seneca was able to keep their deficit at 7 points but then it was “all she wrote” for them. Lauts scored on a nice post move and Seneca countered with a fieldgoal but then Barron intervened. He scored on a nice drive and after Seneca threw the ball away, fed McNinch who nailed a 3 pointer. When Seneca failed on their possession, McNinch passed to Austin who canned another 3 pointer. Seneca posted a fieldgoal with seconds remaining but the Rockets had last possession and Rumley used this to inbound to Barron who dropped a 3 pointer at the buzzer (39-23).

The Rockets made no mistake and opened the 4^th quarter with a 9-0 run to end any notion that Seneca had a chance to come back. Rumley started the action when he drove the paint attracting many defenders and then deftly produced a backhand bounce pass to the wide open Lauts who laid it in. Brown made a free throw, Rumley scored on a 6’ jumper, and later Rumley fed McNinch who dropped a 10’ jumper. On the next Rocket possession, Junis was fed at the top of the key unguarded in his favorite position to drop in a trifecta, but instead, looked for his teammates and found Barron who he fed for the open layup. (This play was significant as it is representative of how the “new” Rockets are playing. Not only have they established a balanced scoring attack, they show signs of preferring an assist to scoring an approach which could take them far in the playoffs). After Seneca broke the run with a free throw, Rumley drove for a layup and the Rockets established a 26 point lead (50-24, 3:40). At this point reserves entered the game and Seneca scored the last 7 points of the contest.

Preliminary Game: In a game of changing momentums, the Meteors played a strong 4^th quarter and defeated the Seneca Sophomores 53-43.

Rocket Scorers:

Gordo Barron 9

Tevin Rumley 9

Matt Lauts 8

JC McNinch 7

Dylan Austin 7

Shay Brown 6

Brett Chappell 2

Jake Junis 2

Next Up:

Jan 15 at 7:30 pm: At Hall