Big third quarter carries Rockets past West Greene
JEFFERSON — Jefferson-Morgan avoided the dreaded “trap” game and took control with a 19-point third quarter on the way to a 51-30 victory over West Greene Tuesday in boys 3-A action.
The Rockets’ focus level was tested in the game, coming off big wins against Carmichaels (Friday) and Beth-Center (Monday), and also having a huge Section 3-A contest at home on Friday against Avella.
“This game had all the makings of a trap game,” Rockets coach Chris Niemiec said. “West Greene bodied us well in the first half and we were not converting lay-ups. Their two-three zone bothered us, but luckily we had one of our kids come off the bench and hit some threes.”
The Pioneers (2-16, 1-7) held a 6-5 lead at the end of the opening eight minutes on the strength of its defense and work on the glass.
The Rocket offense had its early struggles in the first half, but reserve shooter Chas Mattish was a reliable scorer for the Rockets in the first 16 minutes of the game.
Mattish hit a trey early on in the second quarter to give the Rockets an 8-6 edge, and later hit another shot from beyond the arc to give the home team a 17-13 advantage. All nine of Mattish’s points came off of 3-pointers in the first half.
Trailing 17-13, West Greene scored four points from the free throw line to end the second and knot things up at halftime, 17-17. In the first half, the Pioneers only made three baskets, but benefitted from solid shooting from the charity stripe (11-of-14).
In the third quarter, the Rockets (7-11, 4-3) scored the first 14 points and 19 of its 22 second half points.
“I told the guys that we have to win this game on defense,” Niemiec said. “They were slowing us down and we were playing their style. We remained aggressive with our defense and penetration. We rotated the ball around on offense and things were working for us.”
The Pioneers trimmed the deficit to 40-26 in the early stages of the fourth, but the Rockets responded with a 9-2 run to put the game away.
J-M’s Travis Taylor scored all of his 14 points in the second half, while Dom Cage added 11. Rece Henneman and Brandon Faieta contributed eight and seven points, respectively.
“Avella is a big game for us,” Niemiec said. “We have to shoot the ball well and keep on moving the ball on offense. I don’t think we have to change that much defensively. I liked how we played these last couple of games. You have to put constant pressure on their guards when you’re going against Avella.”
For West Greene, Ben Carlisle collected a team-high eight points, followed by six points from JR Young.
“We kept it close in the first half, but we didn’t block out in the second half,” Pioneers coach Jim Romanus said. “It was that simple. We gave them too many second and third chance opportunities. I’m proud of my guys. This is a work in progress and I wouldn’t trade my guys for anybody in the world.”