Rock Falls runs enough to sink Hawks

ROCK FALLS – A late second-quarter run put Rock Falls ahead of Oregon for the first time in a Monday night Big Northern Conference matchup at Tabor Gym. After the Hawks reclaimed the lead early in the third quarter, another run in the third put the Rockets in front for good in a 50-39 win.

Down 18-6 early in the second, the Rockets turned things up both defensively and offensively. Over the final 10 Oregon possessions of the first half, the Hawks shot 0-for-4 from the field and turned the ball over six times, including two steals by Booker Cross and one by Luke Akerman.

Meanwhile, Rock Falls went on a 13-0 run, with Cross contributing six of those points from the free-throw line, and adding four more on baskets in the paint. Ayden Goff also knocked down a corner 3-pointer off an assist from Akerman.

“We were just trying to play team basketball, get to the basket, get fouled, and stop shooting the ball so much on the outside,” Cross said.

After Oregon again took the lead early in the third quarter on back-to-back Joey Gelander layups and a pair of Gelander free throws to make it 24-19 Hawks, the Rockets responded by outscoring Oregon 17-7 the rest of the quarter.

Akerman and Cross knocked down shots to cut the deficit to 24-23. After Oregon got a jumper from Owen Ketter, Akerman fed Cross for a 3-pointer to tie the score.

Gelander put Oregon back in front 28-26 with a layup, but Rock Falls responded on the other end with a 3-pointer from Chase Chappell off an assist by Gavin Sands.

Oregon tied the game with a free throw by Evan James, but Chappell found Sands for a 3-pointer, and Rock Falls led the rest of the way.

“We didn’t shoot the ball well. There was a lid on the basket tonight, it seemed,” Rock Falls coach Zach Sandrock said. “When we don’t shoot well, we need to attack and create out of it. I think we did a good job when we started seeing shots weren’t falling, even though we were getting open looks. We did a good job of attacking gaps and penetrating, allowing the defense to crash, and then we got points out of that.”

The Rockets (4-4, 3-3 Big Northern) hit three 3-pointers in the third quarter, shooting 3-for-7 from beyond the arc in that stretch, but overall struggled to find the basket from that range, shooting 1-for-13 from long range in the first half.

Rock Falls struggled early on the offensive end overall, turning the ball over eight times in the game’s first 10 minutes and shooting 3-for-12 from the floor.

“I thought we did a great job getting our hands out, getting deflections on the basketball,” Oregon coach Nathan Green said. “That got us some run-outs early and we were able to get the ball to the rim. When we limited them to one shot per possession, I thought we did a great job. Toward the end, I think we got a little gassed.”

Rock Falls grabbed 14 offensive rebounds in the game, 10 of which came in the second half, as did all 10 of the Rockets’ second-chance points.

The Rockets were able to keep things somewhat close in that tough stretch with tough defense. Sands and Chappell each had two steals in the first quarter and Cross forced a tie-up and Akerman took a charge.

Akerman’s charge was one of three offensive fouls against Oregon in the game, as he took another in the third quarter and Chevy Bates also took a charge in the fourth.

“That’s what we preach,” Sandrock said. “Our motto is leadership, and we have an acronym that goes along with that, and one of the big things is taking charges and sacrificing your body for the team. It’s a big swing. We really preach getting in and taking charges. It feeds our energy and it keeps us going.”

Oregon (0-7, 0-5 BNC) struggled at times on offense, turning the ball over 23 times and shooting 16-for-38 from the floor and 0-for-8 from 3-point range.

“I have to remind myself how young we are,” Green said. “We’re playing a lot of sophomores, a freshman, some juniors. We graduated nine, so none of these guys have had varsity playing time, really. I think having an actual summer of being able to do an offseason development program with them will be huge for us. One thing I can say of our guys is that when we were able to get in over the summer, they were all very committed, so I’m excited if we have that ability to clean some things up.”

But while Oregon struggled on offense early, the Hawks started to heat up late in the first quarter. Gelander fed James for a basket, and Isaac Nelson and Ketter followed with baskets to put Oregon up 12-6.

Early in the second quarter, Liam Dickson-Harriet hit back-to-back baskets and Gelander followed that with a steal and a layup to put the Hawks in front 18-6.

Gelander finished with 10 points.

“We just needed to contain,” Sandrock said. “We got up and pressured, but our feet weren’t there. I felt like they got to the bucket a little easier than we wanted them to.”

Boys basketball

Rock Falls 50, Oregon 39

Star of the game: Booker Cross, Rock Falls, 26 points, 4 rebounds

Key performers: Joey Gelander, Oregon, 10 points; Luke Akerman, Rock Falls, 9 points, 6 rebounds; Owen Ketter, Oregon, 8 points, 8 rebounds

Up next: Rock Falls at Rockford Lutheran; Oregon at Mendota, both 7 p.m. Wednesday