Rockridge wins Sherrard Regional

SHERRARD - The Rockridge Rockets boys basketball team won the Sherrard Regional Friday night Feb. 28. The Rockets defeated the Kewanee Boilermakers 75-57.

"We always play hard. We didn't play as smart as I would have liked" said Rockridge head coach Toby Whiteman. "We knew it was going to be a battle tonight. We felt we had to hold Donovan in check. Their zone defense gave us but we settled down and started knocking down some shots. We battled hard. We won two regional champions in a row."

Whiteman said, "We are going to enjoy tonight and go back to work tomorrow. The whole team did and excellent job."

Rockridge player Ethan Happ added,"This whole experience has been overwhelming, the fans we have, my teammates, I love the them."

The Rockets and Boilermakers and fought back and forth throughout the first quarter. Rockridge gained the upper hand on a three pointer by Gentry Whiteman followed by a basket by Luke Johnson to extend the Rockets lead to five points, 14-9. John Moraski sank a three pointer for Kewanee and they trailed only 14-12 after the first quarter.

The two teams fought back and and forth early in the second quarter. With two minutes remaining in the period Happ hit a basket and Johnson followed with a three pointer giving Rockridge an eight point lead, 30-22. Bryan Heath hit a three pointer giving the Rockets a nine point lead at the half, 33-24.

The Boilermakers kept pace with the Rockets throughout most of the third period but could gain no ground. Late in the third period the Rockets made their move. A 6-0 run put the Rockets up 19 points, 53-45. Bryan Heath hit a three pointer with one second left giving Rockridge a 58-38 lead heading into the fourth period.

Throughout the fourth period the two teams traded baskets. T.J. Martens basket at 3:47 gave Rockridge their biggest lead at 70-47 one which Kewanee could never recover.