Story by Kadin Rogers
The Monmouth-Roseville Titans boys basketball returned to the court on Wednesday night, hosting TRAC-West rival Rockridge at the Shoebox last night. It was a good start to the game for Monmouth-Roseville, but the final three quarters would go the way of the Rockets, as Rockridge came away with the 61-28 road victory.
It would be a defensive battle in the first quarter of play. Titans senior Darrion Smith would open up the scoring with an early 3 pointer. Smith then would turn around and find Jake Steele on a backdoor cut to extend the Titans lead. Junior Andy Myers got in the scoring column midway through the third with a three of his own to push the M-R lead to 8-2. Landon Bull was the early scorer for the Rockets as he scored all of the early Rockridge points, cutting the Titans lead to 8-7. Carson Klemme and Caleb Cunico knocked down jumpers to bring the Rockets lead to 11-8 after one. Rockridge closed the quarter on a 7-0 run.
Cunico and Andy Myers traded threes in a quick start to the second quarter, while Darrion Smith hit his second three of the contest. The Rockets would still be able to extend their lead on the offensive end, as Rockridge pushed their lead to 27-14 with a minute to play in the half. To end the first half, Jake Steele would get a three to fall for the Titans, but the Rockets would close the half on a three quarters court heave from Landon Wheatley to go up over Monmouth-Roseville 30-17. To open up the second half Jake Steele and Caleb Cunico would trade threes, but from there the Rockets would take over on an 11-1 run through the middle of the third. Titans senior Ayden Almaguer would break up the run, but it would not stop the Rockets from taking a 53-23 lead into the final quarter of play, forcing a running clock in the final 8 minutes.
To finish out the game, the Rockets would run off as much clock as possible. Titans sophomore Nick Huston put in his first 3 career varsity points in the fourth quarter, as the Titans would fall 61-28. In the stat book for the Titans, Jake Steele and Andy Myers would lead the way with 8 points each, while Darrion Smith added in 7. The loss for the Titans drops them to 13-10 overall on the season, as they will look to rebound on Friday night when they host Kewanee for a senior night matchup.
