Coaches will often tell you after a game, even following a win, how ugly the contest was or how imperfectly his or her team played. Coming into Wednesday night’s conference match-up between rivals Rock Ridge and Heritage, both coaches completely expected what they got–a hard-fought, ugly low-scoring game.
“This was exactly the game we thought it would be,” Rock Ridge coach Jason Geyer said afterwards. “I think we’re two of the best defensive teams out there, so we knew points would be at a premium.”
While it was an ugly game, some halftime adjustments and less fouls turned things beautiful for Heritage. The host Pride secured the victory over Rock Ridge 42-36 in a key match-up that for the moment kept Heritage only one loss behind powerful Loudoun Valley atop Conference 21B. But it wasn’t easy.
After the Phoenix scored the game’s first basket, Heritage responded with a 12-1 run which lasted until Rock Ridge junior James Larsen scored with about two minutes left in the first. While the Phoenix struggled to score in the frame and still trailed 12-7 going into the second, they managed to draw a lot of fouls on the Pride. One of Heritage’s best players, senior Zachery Garrett, picked up his second foul and went to the bench with ample time in the first half.
“We wanted to have him at full go in the second half,” Pride coach Samuel Carpenter said of his decision to not risk Garrett picking up a third foul before halftime. “We’re definitely a different team when he’s on the court, though.”
That was apparent as Heritage’s offense went dry for a long stretch of the second quarter without him. Rock Ridge started to drive and dish better also, and went to the locker room up 19-18 on the home team. It was an ugly quarter chock full of turnovers on both sides where things started to get chippy between the two rivals. At one point after a hotly-contested rebound the referees even had to stop play to have two players shake hands.
After halftime things got a lot better for Heritage, thanks to Garrett’s return and an effective strategy by Coach Carpenter. Heritage took the lead early in the third, and then semi-stalled with the Phoenix in a zone. When Rock Ridge eventually came out of its zone, the Pride used a four-corners-type offense to both run time off the clock and spread the floor to attack the basket better.
The strategy worked as the Pride turned the tables, drawing fouls and starting to drive lanes to the basket more effectively. Heritage won the third quarter 13-7, committing only one foul while drawing seven on its opponent. The Pride consistently forced turnovers, and the game started to hinge less on ugly play and more on strategy.
“Both coaches adjusted what we normally do to accommodate the style of the game,” Carpenter said. “The threats that each of us present offensively–we both normally play up in the passing lanes with our man defense. Today we [Heritage] made it more of a shooting game for them, less for us.”
They did indeed, even going to zone to begin the fourth quarter. Rock Ridge then adjusted, playing personnel off the bench proficient from outside. The Phoenix shot 21 three-pointers, but didn’t hit enough of them (six) to overtake the Pride. They kept it close, within two possessions for most of the fourth quarter, and even cut Heritage’s lead to three with 34 seconds left. But they couldn’t pull off the road win.
Garrett made his presence felt in the second half, finishing with 13 points and eight rebounds on the night. Senior Chris Chapman led all scorers with 14 points. He was invaluable on offense, getting to the line eight times and helping to stabilize things while Garrett was out. He also stood out on the defensive end, taking charges and getting steals. Zach Howard led the way for Rock Ridge with ten points.
Heritage (4-1, 11-3) has little time to enjoy the victory. The Pride host Woodgrove tonight, and have two challenging road games next week–at Freedom-South Riding and…at Rock Ridge. The Phoenix (2-2, 8-3) will no doubt be psyched for payback in that one.
“I don’t think we played our best,” Geyer said after the loss. “Tonight was really a one possession game. We made adjustments and had opportunities but we just didn’t make shots. We’ll be ready for them next week. Next time it’ll go the other way.”
–Chris Jollay
stats are unofficial
| HERITAGE | FG | FT | TP | RB | AST | |
| GARRETT | 4-9 | 4-5 | 13 | 8 | 1 | |
| GANLEY | 2-7 | 1-1 | 5 | 4 | 1 | |
| CHAPMAN | 4-6 | 6-8 | 14 | 2 | 0 | |
| WOOTEN | 1-3 | 0-0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | |
| MAISUS | 2-4 | 0-3 | 4 | 5 | 1 | |
| Sene | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Turner | 0-2 | 1-2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | |
| Saale | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Olafson | 1-2 | 1-2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | |
| Gray | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Edmond | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 14-34 | 13-21 | 42 | 28 | 4 | |
| Three pointers: Garrett 1-3, Ganley 0-1, Chapman 0-1, Sene 0-1, Olafson 0-1 | ||||||
| ROCK RIDGE | FG | FT | TP | RB | AST | |
| BYAS-SMITH | 0-2 | 0-1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | |
| LARSEN | 1-2 | 2-2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | |
| BLALOCK | 1-4 | 0-0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | |
| PARKMAN | 1-4 | 0-0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | |
| HOWARD | 3-5 | 3-5 | 10 | 2 | 0 | |
| Hicks III | 1-1 | 2-2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | |
| Eldridge | 2-8 | 1-2 | 7 | 3 | 0 | |
| Bhakta | 2-10 | 0-0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | |
| TOTALS | 11-36 | 8-12 | 36 | 17 | 8 | |
| Three Pointers: Eldridge 2-5, Bhakta 2-10, Howard 1-1, Blalock 1-4, Byas-Smith 0-1 | ||||||