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Rogers scores 22 against Rebels
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Crestview’s C.J. Collins shoots as Springfi eld’s Ron Rogers (31) watches during their game on Tuesday in New Middletown. The Tigers See TIGERS, B4 won, 61-52.
By LOWELL SPENCER
New Middletown
For about 12 minutes, the Crestview High boys basketball team was in a heated battle with the first-place Springfield.
Then, Tigers senior Ron Rogers and junior Eoghan Bees starting finding their groove.
The pair hit two 3-pointers apiece to lead the Tigers on a run that pushed their advantage to 15-points at halftime in Tuesday’s 61-52 victory.
The Tigers (13-2, 10-1 Inter Tri-County League Tier One) never let the Rebels get closer than nine points in the second half.
“They did a nice job of controlling the tempo,” Springfield coach Eric Fender said about the first half. “But that is sort of both of our gameplans. They controlled it at their pace.”
Rogers scored a game-high of 22 points, including a key 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter to deflate any hopes the Rebels had of a comeback.
“We got the shots we wanted in the first quarter,” Rebels coach Herman Miller said. “We ended the first quarter 13-9 and that was with giving up a couple late scores.
“So the first quarter was pretty much a blueprint of what we wanted to do,” Miller said. “I thought once they hit a couple of 3s, I just didn’t think we continued to defend that nearly as aggressively as we did in the first period.”
The Rebels opened the third with a 6-0 run to cut the Tigers’ advantage to nine, but the Tigers slowly pushed their lead back to 13. Rogers, at the top of the key, then hit a long shot at the buzzer for a commanding 48-32 lead.
“We lost him on the out-of-bounds plays, that really shouldn’t happen,” Miller said. “You know where the out-of-bounds play is going, so everyone should be communicating.”
Fender wasn’t surpised at how the Rebels opened the second half.
“We always know that a team coming out on the losing end [is] going to come with some fire, they are going to come with some intensity,” Fender said. “We let them have a few easy buckets to start, but once we figured how to break their press, we figured out what their in [on defense].
“They left Ronnie open a few times and luckily he was hitting his shots,” Fender said.
The Rebels hit their own buzzer shot at the end to cut the final score down to a nine-point margin. Tom Oliver led the Rebels with 11 points.
Miller reflected on the significance of the win.
“League-wise, this was a must win to have a sniff of [the Tier One] championship),” Miller said. “But in the big picture this is certainly going to be one of the teams with the best record in the Salem District.”
Fender said, “Every game in the ITCL is important for us. Crestview, we knew, would come back for us; they would want some revenge considering we got them at their place.
“It was a physical game,” he said. “Two good teams go at it, battling hard. We know every game counts.”