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Patriots romp past Rockingham C.C.
PHCC's Devonte Davis (23) puts up a shot during the first half against Rockingham Community College on Saturday in Stone Hall. The Patriots won easily, 99-68. (Bulletin photo by Mike Wray)
Sunday, January 10, 2010
By CHASE YOUNG - Bulletin Sports Writer
Patrick Henry Community College’s men’s basketball team shot out to an early lead and never let up for a 99-68 rout of Rockingham Community College on Saturday at Stone Hall.
“Our defensive intensity was there, and then once we got the lead we started to play a little sloppy, which I didn’t like too swell, but overall it was a good win for us. Any win is good after a long layoff like we had,” said Patriots skipper Kenny Wade.
PHCC (8-4 overall, 2-1 Region X) started the night on an 11-2 run capped by a right-wing 3-pointer from Nick Goforth, and as their full-court defensive pressure remained steady, so too did the turnovers by RCC.
“What happened is about what I thought was going to happen, but we’re just trying to weather the storm,” said RCC coach Dean Myrick. “We should have our team back in hopefully a week. We’re just trying to get to that point and not get hurt and so on and so forth.”
After starting the season with an 18-person roster, Rockingham brought just six players to the game at PHCC.
Without any true guards, RCC struggled to bring the ball up the court against the Patriots’ pressure and recorded 18 total turnovers in the first half.
“We wanted to keep the pressure up on them the whole time,” said PHCC’s Ross Williams. “Coach (Wade) said we’re gonna run ’em, run ’em, run ’em on defense and offense, so we just kept the pressure up the whole time, and they turned the ball over.”
Williams led the Patriots with 24 points, six of which came from 3-point land, and added 13 assists and 10 steals as well. Goforth added 12 points, all of which came from beyond the arc.
RCC (9-7, 3-2) attempted to shorten a 20-point gap (37-17) late in the first half as Torrel Priest hit the Eagles’ last five shots, all of which came from behind the arc, but the Patriots maintained their edge and entered the break leading 51-31.
“They didn’t quit, and that was a positive,” said Myrick of his team. “That was good. I thought at a point it was going to be worse than it was. They fought, and that’s all you can ask for.”
Priest recorded a game-high 31 points for the Eagles and was aided by Lee Bailey’s 18 and Lawrence Trison’s 12.
The Patriots continued to build on their lead in the second half with a 21-9 run over the first five minutes that had them up 73-40. As PHCC continued to press, the Eagles continued to turn the ball over and never threatened down the stretch.
While Wade said he saw “bright spots” in the Patriots’ ability to attack the basket and move the ball offensively, he wasn’t fully pleased with his team’s play.
“I think our offensive execution really needs some work, because we weren’t crisp offensively,” said Wade. “I think we can get a lot better than we are offensively, as far as if we get crisp and stay in our sets and do the things that we’re supposed to do out of our offense.”
The Patriots play next at 7 p.m. Tuesday when they host Louisburg Junior College.
PHCC 99
RCC 68
PHCC 51 48 — 99
RCC 31 37 — 68
PHCC (8-4, 2-1) R. Williams 8 (2) 2-4 24, N. Goforth 0 (4) 0-0 12, H. Cullen 5 (0) 0-1 10, S. Martin 2 (1) 1-1 8, T. Robinson 3 (0) 0-0 6, D. Davis 2 (0) 2-5 6, T. Scott 2 (0) 1-3 5, D. Echols 2 (0) 0-0 4, A. Jones 2 (0) 0-4 2, R. Christian 1 (0) 0-0 2, Totals 33 (7) 10-24 99.
RCC (9-7, 3-2) T. Priest 5 (6) 3-4 31, L. Bailey 6 (0) 6-8 18, L. Trison 4 (0) 2-4 12, C. Caudill 2 (0) 2-4 6, Totals 18 (6) 13-18 68.
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