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Struggling with rebounding and taking care of the ball, the Rockbridge County High School boys basketball team suffered a 63-43 home loss to Valley District rival Harrisonburg on Friday night in Lexington.
The Wildcats (1-9 overall, 0-3 district), who were coming off a 72-68 home loss to Parry McCluer a week earlier, kept the game close early, trailing 11-8 after the first quarter.
RC cut the lead to 11-10 when Bradi Ziegler made an inside basket at the start of the second quarter, but the Blue Streaks responded by going on an 11-0 run to extend their lead to 23-10, getting second-chance shots by grabbing offensive rebounds. RC’s Gardner Clement made three inside baskets to cut Harrisonburg’s lead to 23-16, but the Blue Streaks made two inside shots to take a 27-16 lead into halftime.
To start the second half, an inside shot from Ziegler and a 3-pointer from Sam Ballstaedt trimmed Harrisonburg’s lead to 27-21, but the Blue Streaks (1-7, 1-2) answered back and built up a 16-point lead, going up 39-23 with just under three minutes left in the third quarter. Harrisonburg took a 39-28 lead into the fourth quarter.
It was all Harrisonburg in the fourth quarter, as the Blue Streaks went on a 10-0 run in the first three minutes to extend their lead to 49-28, capitalizing on six Wildcat turnovers. The Blue Streaks stayed comfortably ahead for the rest of the game, outscoring RC 24-4 in the quarter.
The Wildcats committed 21 turnovers, while the Blue Streaks had nine.
Harrisonburg’s Yandel Robles led all players with 21 points, while Lazaro Valdivia and Merhowe Gebrenegus each scored 14 points for the Blue Streaks.
Ballstaedt led the Wildcats with 11 points, making three 3-pointers, while Clement scored 10 points and battled for some rebounds. Ziegler added nine points for RC, while Clay Irvine chipped in seven.
RC hit six 3-pointers, while Harrisonburg made three triples.
The Wildcats will return to action at Parry McCluer (5-3) tomorrow, Saturday, with the varsity game scheduled for 5:30 p.m. The day will start with the junior varsity girls’ game between the two schools at 1 p.m., with the JV boys’ game scheduled to follow at 2:30, and then the varsity girls’ game at 4 p.m.
For the full stories on this week’s action, with photos from Saturday’s games, please see our Jan. 8 newspaper.
