First-quarter run difference in Rockets’ 51-35 win
ROGERSVILLE — The Jefferson-Morgan boys basketball team ended the first quarter with 13 unanswered points and never looked back in a 51-35 victory over West Greene in non-section action Wednesday night.
DL Garrett poured in a game-high 23 points for the Rockets (5-5), while Jalen Torres added 17. Devin Stoneking contributed eight points to the winning effort.
“We brought the right energy and intensity to start the game,” J-M coach DL Garrett said. “That is so important in the game of basketball and we’ve been harping on that the last couple of weeks. It’s only 32 minutes, you have to bring it on every play and have non-stop energy.”
The Pioneers (3-6) were led by 12 points from Nathan Brudnock and 10 from Austin Crouse.
“We weren’t mentally ready to play and we had an awful start to the game,” West Greene coach Jim Romanus said. “We are not that good of a team to turn it on and to turn it off like that. We don’t have the offense to come back and to score in bunches. This is a frustrating loss and I don’t really see a lot of positives out of this one.”
Garrett opened the contest with a trey for J-M, but moments later West Greene’s Gavin Scott answered back with a shot from beyond the arc.
After the teams exchanged baskets, the visitors broke away from the 5-5 deadlock with 13 straight points to end the opening eight minutes of play.
Torres had six points in the critical scoring run for the Rockets.
“I think Jalen recommitted himself (to the season) last week and brought the right attitude into this game,” coach Garrett said. “Jalen is a key piece to our team and if he has a bad night then we are going to have a bad night. He knows that and I think he is ready to be a leader. It was a rough start for us as a team, but I think the guys are bringing a new energy to the court.”
The Pioneers opened the second quarter with the first five points, but J-M responded with an 8-4 rally to end the quarter to carry a 26-14 lead into intermission.
The Rockets grabbed six of the opening eight points in the third quarter, but the Pioneers countered with a 6-1 spurt to end the quarter, trimming the deficit to 33-22.
After the squads traded 3-pointers to begin the fourth quarter, J-M got separation with a 10-4 run that secured the non-section triumph. The Rockets held an 18-13 scoring edge in the final frame with eight points coming from Garrett.
“I liked our defense tonight,” coach Garrett said. “The press worked well and we got a ton of turnovers off of it. We had good spacing on the court and identified their shooters. We were active with our heads and we got into some passing lanes. We also communicated a lot better.”
Both teams will return to their respective sections over the next couple of days, as J-M travels to Frazier on Thursday and West Greene visits Monessen on Friday.
“Sometimes we struggle with the little things,” Romanus said. “The last couple of games we have done a horrible job of boxing out. We are a little careless with the basketball. Tonight was a whole calamity of errors. Sometimes our guys are just in a daze and don’t know where they are suppose to be on the court. We can’t take plays off.”