On Jan. 10 in Beloit, the Rock Hills Grizzlies, played a tough game and had a good run at a comeback towards the end of the game against St. John’s-Tipton Catholic boys, but fell to the Blujays by a score of 78 to 67 in the end.
The Blujays started things off quickly with No. 23 Gabriel Roderick scoring for St. John’s-Tipton.
The boys from Rock Hills found themselves down by 6 points rather quickly, but the Grizzlies Cooper McDill, made a play and scored a bucket to make it a 6 to 2 game in favor of the Blujays early in the first quarter.
The Rock Hills boys unfortunately could not ‘buy’ a sunk free throw, as they missed many shots at the free throw line, being often fouled by Blujays defenders on several plays throughout the game.
Coach Stuart Vance encouraged his boys to stick to their guns despite the adversity. A few playmakers led the charge on the comeback trail right to the end, but the deficit had reached 20 points at least at one point, thus, it was really difficult to come back, even though the Grizzlies did make it to within 6 points of the Blujays at one point in the fourth quarter.
The game in the third quarter took on a kind of see-saw battle quality as the Blujays still held on to the lead throughout the game, and, as it happens, St. John’s-Tipton had a 53 to 42 lead with 1 minute and 27 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
The punishment came in unfortunately for the Grizzlies when players for the St. John’s Catholic boys team, like Gabriel Roderick and Nicolas Niewald, started throwing in several 3-point scores that made the numbers higher favoring a better outcome for the Blujays.
The fans from Jewell County were relatively numerous for such a small seating arrangement in place at the auditorium at Beloit, and although not numbered per se, and they really believed and shouted things like ‘go boys you got this’ as they rightfully and strongly supported and encouraged the boys, Rock Hills Grizzlies, to stage a strong comeback against a formidable team.
Among the Rock Hills fans present, Abe Mohler and his wife, Karyn Mohler, both rural residents of Jewell County, who were there in Beloit, cheering on the teams, but also cheering on their daughter, Nakita Mohler, who is herself a cheerleader for the Rock Hills Grizzlies.
Among the players from Rock Hills who came to play hard and score against the Blujays, especially toward the end of the game, were Cam Ward, Eli Vance and Cooper McDill, as they came close upon the heels of the Blujays if nothing else, because the Blujays were clinging to a 71 to 65 lead with 1 minute and 17 seconds left in the game.
The final score for the boys’ game was St, John’s-Tipton 78, Rock Hills Grizzlies 67.
Coach Vance said, “They came back from a 20-point deficit. They played hard. We got it down to a 6-point deficit. I’m proud of this team.”
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