The Sundown Roughnecks hosted the Smyer Bobcats for a district basketball matchup this past Wednesday night, resulting in the Roughnecks winning 65-14.
The Roughnecks defensive unit dominated the entire game, and offensively, eight of nine players got on the scoreboard, a combination that will lead to wins most nights.
“It started with our defensive effort and trying to collect as many stops in a row as we can,” Roughnecks Head Basketball Coach Kyle Igo said. “We had good court spacing tonight. In the second half, we started to see some back cuts, dive cut opportunities and kids sharing the basketball. It gave everybody a chance to get involved.”
Coach Igo also noted his team was in a unique spot after being away from the court and missing work outs for five days due to the snow, needing to knock off the rust.
That didn’t seem as the case for the Roughnecks though, as scorers included Kye Powell with 22 points behind two three-pointers made, Josh Hogan with 15 points, Marco Landa with nine points behind three three-pointers made, Nathan McAdams with eight points, Brock Bufe with four points, Rylan Carr with three points, and Athan Peralez and Isaiah Igo both with two points.
The win improves the Roughnecks to 12-10 overall and 3-4 in district play, which ties them for fourth in the 2A District 5 standings. The win was huge for the Roughnecks and keeping their playoff hopes alive.
They're fighting with Sea graves, Morton and White- face to earn the final two playoff spots in the district, which the Roughnecks are well aware of.
“We’re just trying to take it one game at a time, one day of prep at a time. It’s going to require relentless effort on our part,” Coach Igo said.
“We’re going to have to play so hard, especially when we go on the road. We’re looking forward to the challenge because we know it’s going to be a dogfight every night and that’s how you want it as a competitor, so we’re ready for it.”
On the Bobcats end of things, the loss drops them to 3-15 overall and 0-7 in district play, which puts them last in the 2A District 5 standings.
The Bobcats played with great ball movement and shot selection at times, as well as defensive pressure, but they failed to do it consistently.
“We played defense well at times,” Bobcats Head Basketball Coach Jared Colley said. “The problem is we play defense good for 20 seconds and then ease off. We allow them to have second chance points. And that’s the frustrating part, that our defense is good, but the effort has to be consistent throughout.”
Offensively, scorers for the Bobcats included Max Benevedes with eight points powered by two three-pointers made, Sebastian Rodriguez with four points and Grady Pastusek with two points.
While the Bobcats are out of playoff contention, they are still chasing their season goal of improvement from last season, which is something to keep them going amidst a tough stretch.
“Continue to strive for perfection,” Coach Colley said. “We’re never going to be perfect, but if we work at being perfect and doing the little things that it takes to be perfect, and that starts in practice, then that’s how we continually see growth. If we practice at a level that nobody else is practicing at, and we do things that other teams do not, then it’ll show up in the win column.”
Following the game, both teams are back in action over the weekend. The Bobcats host Morton while the Roughnecks play at Plains.