Schools
Rockets Get A Measure Of Revenge
RM boys basketball earns eighth win of season with victory over Wootton.
A loss last month to Wootton left the boys basketball team wondering who they were as a team. On Friday night, they showed what they were capable of, and gained a measure of revenge against their crosstown rivals, beating 51-45.
“They outhustled us, they killed us on the boards, they killed us in the paint,” RM head coach Scott Spear said about the December game. “After the game, the speech was, 'Is this all we have? Are we going to be outworked by teams like this?' ... This was a big game because they embarrassed us in that first game, and we wanted to prove a point.”
The first quarter was marked with several turnovers on both sides. Wootton senior Benjy Sokobin dominated in the paint. He scored eight of his 12 points in the first quarter and led the Patriots to a 16-15 lead after one quarter.
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After the first quarter though, RM clamped down on defense. They held Wootton (9-5) to just six points in the second quarter, and took a 24-22 lead into halftime.
“They had 16 points in the first quarter and all were in the paint,” Spear said. “After that, we decided that we couldn't give in so easily, and we played really good defense.”
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The second half was largely about RM junior Justin Senou. Senou, who was somewhat quiet in the first half, scored seven points in the third quarter, nine in the fourth, and 22 overall. He helped seal the win for the Rockets by hitting a three-pointer early in the fourth, and then went
six-for-six from the free throw line.
“We need Justin. He hasn't played well the past two games and only scored three points in each game,” Spear said. “We stressed all week in practice that we need him to be aggressive, and take his shots. He's our go-to guy, we want him to have the ball.”
The Rockets are now 8-5, just a year after finishing the season 5-18. Spear can't point to one specific thing that is working for his team, but gives a lot of credit to his team's ability to win ugly.
“We don't look good a lot of the time,” Spear said. “We look sloppy, and we force things. ... But, we do good things at certain times, and we're able to make big plays. We need to take this momentum we have and carry it for a while.”
Richard Montgomery plays their next game at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at .
