Boys basketball: Rock Falls starts red-hot, rolls past Genoa-Kingston

ROCK FALLS – Playing an aggressive style of basketball on both ends of the court paid dividends Friday night for Rock Falls.

The Rockets took control early on in their Big Northern Conference game against Genoa-Kingston and never looked back in an 86-59 victory at Tabor Gym.

“We came into this game with a chip on our shoulder, so the aggressiveness that came with that was key,” junior guard Gavin Sands said. “It was just everybody all together, and we were all just in it to win this game tonight.”

[ Photos from Rock Falls vs. Genoa-Kingston boys basketball ]

Aydan Goff and Kuitim Heald hit 3-pointers in the first three minutes of the game, then after the Cogs cut the deficit to 10-7 on a basket and two free throws by John Krueger, Rock Falls (12-16, 4-4 BNC) went on a sustained run for the next quarter-plus.

Heald hit another 3, then Chevy Bates went coast-to-coast off a steal and Gavin Sands connected with Ryken Howard for a runout layup to ignite a 32-6 run over the next 10:04. Diego Hernandez scored a pair of layups, Sands knocked down a 3 off an assist from Heald, then Sands and Heald both drove the baseline before dumping off passes to Bates for layups on identical plays on consecutive possessions to force a Genoa-Kingston timeout.

“When everybody’s hitting, everybody gains confidence, everybody’s aggressive on the boards, everybody’s aggressive down the court, everybody’s passing it around, and everybody’s making plays, Heald said. “You just gain so much confidence, and the bench players pick it up too.”

The Cogs (10-18, 1-7) scored just two points from the 5:28 mark of the first quarter until the 4:48 mark of the second, and trailed 42-13 and 44-15 before back-to-back 3-pointers by Hayden Hodgson stopped the Rock Falls onslaught.

Howard hit a 3 and then nabbed a steal and went coast-to-coast for a layup, and the Rockets led 49-23 at halftime.

“We just kept up the pace on defense and didn’t let ourselves get lazy with our stops,” Sands said. “It was all about keeping up the pressure.”

Consecutive turnovers to start the third quarter led to a layup by Goff and a Sands 3 assisted by Goff for a 54-23 Rocket lead just 33 seconds into the second half.

“Transition was a big key tonight,” Goff said. “In the huddle at the beginning of the game, Coach said, ‘Push the ball, push the ball.’ We’ve been trying to do that all year, and it really showed tonight.”

But the Cogs fought back. Hodgson hit a pair of 3s a minute-and-a-half apart, then Traven Atterberry got rolling at point guard for G-K. He assisted a basket by Nathan Kleba, then went coast-to-coast off a steal before driving down the lane for another basket. Hodgson then hit a jumper to cut the deficit to 57-40 with 1:20 left in the third.

“The first half, they were taking off, beating us down the floor even on made baskets, and at halftime we stressed that the biggest thing was we just had to run back and play defense, and not walk back or jog back after a make or a miss,” G-K coach Griffin McNeal said. “So we got back, we got set, and they actually had to play offense instead of just running and having wide-open shots every possession. And we also started taking the ball to the basket and hitting some shots on offense.”

Howard stopped the Cogs’ 17-3 run with a 3-pointer off a drive-and-kick play by Austin Castaneda, and after Atterberry brought the ball up the court and stepped into an open 3 with 25 seconds left in the third, Heald was left all alone after dribbling around a screen and knocked down a 3 to make it 65-43 Rockets going into the fourth quarter.

Diego Hernandez, Heald and Sands all scored in the early stages of the fourth quarter, with Sands driving to the hoop to answer Atterberry’s drive to the rim for a 73-50 lead with 4:27 to go. Both coaches emptied their benches after that.

“It’s really nice when everyone’s a part of it, because it contributes to a bigger win,” Goff said. “Looking at the scoreboard tonight, you can tell it was a really nice game from everyone all-around.”

In the final stretch, Braxten Marks hit a 3 off another drive-and-kick play by Castaneda, then Thomas Lewis scored a putback before Andrew Hernandez scored on back-to-back possessions for the Rockets; the first bucket was a layup after he stole the ball, then he hit a 3-pointer set up by Vinnie Lombardo. Julian Hernandez added a putback in the final minute, with each of those baskets by the reserves leading to huge ovations from the Rock Falls starters and student section.

“It’s very cool for those guys to go out and do that, and now knowing that they can score and make plays, they can help the team out more,” Heald said. “They just had a really good game, everybody had a really good game, and it was a good team win.”

Heald had 15 points, four assists and three rebounds for the Rockets, while Sands finished with 14 points, seven rebounds, six assists and two steals. Goff added 12 points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals, Howard had 12 points, two steals and a block, and Bates chipped in nine points, four rebounds and two steals. Diego Hernandez finished with eight points and a block, Andrew Hernandez scored five points and nabbed a steal, and Lewis added two points and six rebounds for Rock Falls, which assisted on 13 of its 17 first-half field goals and finished with 20 assists on 30 baskets for the game.

“It’s exciting to see this,” Sands said. “It’s a good win for the team, and I think we’ve got some more wins coming.”

Hodgson led all scorers with 17 points for the Cogs, and Atterberry scored all 12 of his points in the second half while also grabbing seven rebounds, nabbing three steals, and dishing a pair of assists. Krueger added eight points and two assists, Nathan Skarzynski scored six points, Corey Bowman had six points and three rebounds off the bench, and Kleba chipped in four points, three rebounds and three steals for G-K.

“It’s been a tough week, definitely not our best basketball this week. We had a tough turnaround, lost a hard one last night, and we definitely came out a little bit flat,” McNeal said. “But in the second half, we battled back. We went a little bit younger there in the second half, and I was really happy with what our young guys did and how hard they played.”