PORTLAND -- Just when it looked as if Thursday’s game might go down to the wire, the Southridge Skyhawks started making more plays than the Roosevelt Roughriders.
Southridge’s Drew Groenig knocked down the go-ahead three-pointer with 6:17 to play and the Skyhawks had answers for everything Roosevelt threw at the in crunch time, walking away with a 68-64 victory in the opening round of the Les Schwab Invitational boys basketball tournament at Portland State’s Viking Pavilion.
Alonzo Hoff and Keenan Reckamp finished with 19 points and seven rebounds apiece to pace the Skyhawks (7-1), who rallied from an 11-point deficit in the second quarter while running their winning streak to five games.
Elijah Thompson had 15 points and five assists, and Groenig added 12 points, four rebound and three steals to help send Southridge into Saturday’s LSI quarterfinals.
“I thought we played a little bit on our heels to start the game out,” Southridge coach Phil Vesel said. “Roosevelt is a good team and their pressure got to us. We floated some passes and panicked. But then I thought we settled in an competed and that’s all I can ask of my guys.
“We tried to play as many possessions as we could in that second half and we were much better than we were in the first half.”
Roosevelt’s Fiuzzy Montague led all scorers with 25 points for the Roughriders (1-4), who got another 16 points and nine rebounds from Syrius Owens and a game-high 15 rebounds from Omar Eno.
“We’re still getting our feet wet and trying to figure out the identity of this team,” Roosevelt coach Jamarr Lawson said. “I think our guys are starting to understand why we’re preaching about how important it is to set solid screens, to move without the basketball, be quicker to the help side, and the boxing out gets you a rebound.
“That’s what won it down the stretch — who was going to be more disciplined and execute — and I’d have to say tonight, Southridge was the better team. They were able to pull it off because they stay engaged, they stayed disciplined, and they didn’t panic through the runs and the punch-backs.”
Roosevelt grabbed the early momentum Thursday, keeping Southridge off balance with a high-pressure defense and an offense that found success taking the ball to the basket.
The Roughriders came out of the first quarter with a 21-16 lead and then pushed it to 29-18 when Lucas Moreira scored with an assist from Owen Nathan with 6:45 to play in the second quarter.
Southridge then stepped up in the last five minutes of the half. Hoff got fouled on two made layups and converted both three-point plays and Reckamp and Thompson each hit a three-pointer during a 23-10 run that put the Skyhawks in front 41-39 at the break.
“When we settled down and attacked Roosevelt’s pressure, then we started to get some wide-open shots,” Vesel said. “I thought Alonzo finished at the rim, we knocked down some threes, and all of sudden you can’t press now.
“That’s why you have to attack press. And when we started to do that, the momentum swung back and it became a basketball game instead of, ‘We’re just going to run you out of the gym pressing you.’”
Southridge opened the second half on a 10-4 run that ended with Reckamp connecting from the top of arc to give the Skyhawks a 51-43 lead.
Roosevelt responded with 13-3 run, capped by an Owens’ buzzer-beater that knotted the score at 54-54.
The Skyhawks then opened the fourth quarter on an 8-3 run that started with Groenig’s go-ahead 3-pointer and ended with a Thompson three-pointer off an offensive rebound that made it 62-57 with 3:53 to play.
Roosevelt got no closer than three points the rest of the way.
“It’s about having good possessions,” Vesel said. “That’s what we were trying to build with was get some good possessions and make Roosevelt have to guard some multiple actions. At times when we did that, good things happened for us.
“I also thought we did a job on the offensive boards in the second half. I think we had seven in the second half and those extra possessions were big for us. Especially when got a little bit of separation late, we got a couple of offensive boards that led to baskets and fouls.”
There’s also a big difference between playing with the lead and playing from behind.
“What happens is you have to be even more locked in,” Lawson said. “You have to really listen to what the game plan is and be able to implement that and execute that. And when you don’t, things stretch out on you, right?
“And I think we got a little tired. I’ve been telling these guys, we aren’t in the best shape. And when you’re not in the best shape, you can’t do some of the things your coach is asking you do at times.”
Four players scored in double figures for the Skyhawks, who shot 42.6 percent (23 for 54) to Roosevelt’s 39.1 percent (25 for 64).
“That’s who we are,” Vesel said of his team’s balanced scoring. “There might be a game or two where someone goes off and gets 30 points. But we’re better when we share the ball and we have multiple guys in double figures, because it’s hard to guard that.”
Roosevelt graduated eight seniors including four starters from last year’s 6A state runner-up team, leaving Montague and Nathan as the only returning players who saw significant playing time a year ago for the the reigning Portland Interscholastic League champions.
“This is a new team with a totally new roster,” said Lawson, in his sixth season at Roosevelt and second as head coach. “ Last year, we had a lot of senior leadership. This year, we have only four seniors, so we’re dealing with trying to get our young guys to understand how to play games, how to win games, how to finish games, how to withstand runs, and how to maintain leads when you get up. It’s all a work in progress for us.
"This was an early test for the dance at the end of the season. I feel like both teams are the type of teams that have an opportunity to make it to the Chiles Center, so it’s always good to get an opportunity in an early-season setting like this.”
The next test is Saturday, when Southridge is scheduled to play at 8:30 p.m. against the winner of Friday’s La Lumiere-Baker opening round game. Roosevelt is set to play Saturday at 1:30 p.m. against either the La Lumiere Lakers of La Porte, Ind., or the defending 4A champion Baker Bulldogs.
“Well, it’s always good to get on the winning side of the LSI, but it just buys you an admission ticket to tougher competition,” Vesel said. “You celebrate the win and you feel good. Roosevelt is a really good team, they’re well-coached, and they’re going to win a lot of games, so that’s really good for our RPI down the road.
“Other than that, you get back to work. We’ll practice Friday and then we’ll play on Saturday.”
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