By Ben Spector
SALISBURY- In a game where calling the offense fast-paced would most likely be a gross exaggeration it came down to which team could execute around the rim better.
That honor went to the Theodore Roosevelt Roughriders as they not only won the battle around the rim but also the fast break battle leading to them winning their semifinal of Boys Bracket #1 semifinal over the Parkside Rams by a score of 76-50.
The Roughriders and Parkside hung with each other during the first half with both teams trading blows using their speed and quickness to attack the rim and force the opposing teams to go on the defensive.
In the 2nd half, the Roughriders would take over. Roosevelt maintained their same offensive pressure but moved to the press on defense to try and create some more pressure on the Rams.
And, pressure it created.
The Roughriders would knock the 3rd quarter on its head going on a 24-3 run to start and complete most of the quarter. And, similar to the first half the Roughriders found most of their success from inside the paint and off of the turnovers that they had created.
Rob Nickens’ troops compiled 54 points in the paint and 16 points off of turnovers while forcing the Rams to commit 27 turnovers during the contest.
All of these things factored together would put the Rams out of it before the 3rd quarter was over as the Roughriders’ execution with what turned out to be a tough shooting night for the Rams leading to the loss even with a fine performance from Gary Briddell who had 16 points and 3 rebounds and Tyrese Purnell who had 7 points and 12 rebounds.
The offense of the Roughriders was just too much for the Rams to overcome as 4 Roughriders had double digit points with Donald Brewer, Derrick Brown, Brandon Howell, and Deon Savage all eclipsing the ten-point mark for the Rams.
Even more impressive for the Roughriders was that out of the 14 players on their roster 11 had points and 13 recorded some sort of stat in the blowout.
In the end, all of the ways in which Roosevelt attacked the Rams was too much for Parkside, giving the Roughriders a much needed win.
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