By Don Abernathy (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
After two ties and four lead changes in the first quarter, something clicked in for Rogersville against Glendale on Monday: Defense.
The Wildcats used their decided size advantage and turned up the dial defensively, forcing one-shot possessions and numerous turnovers en route to an 80-45 Blue Division semifinal win at the 80th Annual Blue and Gold Tournament at Great Southern Bank Arena.
“We were pretty much on our heels (in the first quarter),” Rogersville coach John Schaefer said. “I thought Glendale executed some pretty good stuff early. They had a lot of movement offensively and we didn’t really get hooked up. We were just happy to not be down after the first quarter.”
Rogersville led by one point after the first quarter, then scored seven-straight points to open the second period for a 23-15 lead. Just two minutes later, Rogersville outscored Glendale 11-0 to take a 38-21 lead to halftime.
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“(The first quarter) was a wakeup call,” Schaefer said. “We made some adjustments on our defense. Our intensity was better. We got to the lane more.”
Sophomore Titus Moore scored nine points during the decisive second quarter, from both inside and out. Moore had a pair of buckets in the lane, a 3 from the right wing, and then a dunk from the post as Rogersville pulled away.
“We had a better post presence, so we tried to utilize that,” Schaefer said. “They were playing us man, so we wanted to get downhill and get to the lane. Athletically, I thought we matched up well. I think we are bigger and longer in spots.”
The Wildcats slowly stretched their lead to 61-39 at the end of the third quarter.
Rogersville junior Chase Branham had 16 of his game-high 33 points in the second half, scoring at the rim in transition, and knocking down a pair of 3s. Branham also had a game-high eight rebounds
“I feel like most of our stuff came from our defense, getting boards, getting steals and stops,” Branham said. “We did a good job of using our size, our quickness, and speed to our advantage.”
Moore added 20 points and had seven boards, while his brother, senior Marcus Moore added 11 points and six rebounds in the victory.
Glendale junior Joelle Rover finished with a team-high 22 points and had six boards in the loss.
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Rogersville will play Willard Tuesday in the Blue Division final at 8:30 pm. at GSB Arena.
“We have something to prove in this tournament,” Branham said. “In the past two years that I’ve been in this tournament, we haven’t got that first place that we’ve been wanting. We’ve had that mindset coming into this, that we were coming for it all.”
For Titus, the recipe for Tuesday is Moore of the same.
“We are always trying to shut people down defensively,” Moore said. “We’ve got to do it again tomorrow. We definitely want this. It’s been circled on our board as one of our big goals this year.”
