Saturday afternoon a game Rock Ridge team fell behind early to undefeated Seton, but made run after run to eventually take a second half lead. The Conquistadors proved resilient and demonstrated why they are undefeated, however, answering every Rock Ridge spurt with one of their own and ultimately prevailing 63-61.
“I think that’s one of the trademarks of this team,” said Seton Coach Dan Vander Woude when asked about his team’s resiliency. “We have really good chemistry.”
The visiting Conquistadors took an early first quarter lead as its guards got to the rim and drew constant contact. Seton shot 10 first quarter free throws while the Phoenix only got to the line 10 times the entire game. Still, at the end of one, Rock Ridge had whittled the Seton lead to 20-18.
Both teams’ offenses, which each shot over 50% from the field for the game, continued to be efficient in the second quarter. At half it was 36-33 Seton, but the Phoenix made a strong run in the third quarter. Rock Ridge junior Akash Kulkami hit two big three-pointers, and suddenly the home team tied the score and then shortly thereafter took a lead.
That lead was short-lived as Seton almost immediately counter-punched and took it back. Senior Seton guard Patrick Nguyen got hot from long range, and the Conquistadors never trailed again. In the fourth quarter Seton surged to a 57-51 lead, forcing a Rock Ridge time out. a few minutes later sophomore Dominic Nguyen found his brother Patrick open for the last of his three second half treys to make it 62-54 late.
Rock Ridge (6-2) still wouldn’t quit, battling to 63-61 thanks to some nice shots and missed free throws by the visitors. With under a second left Seton was able to in-bound the ball and come away with the hard-fought victory, however.
“I give them a lot of credit, #1 had a great game for them,” Vander Woude said. “Offensively we had to step up and make some big shots late in the game. We did make some big shots, though we didn’t finish the game well from the free throw line.”
#1 certainly did have a great game for Rock Ridge. That would be junior Mekhi Motilewa, and he did it all for the Phoenix. He displayed a deadly mid-range jumper which helped to net him 22 points, and Motilewa also registered six assists, finding his teammates open when Seton gave him extra defensive attention. Senior Kyle Desai added three three-pointers and 14 points, while Daniel Okoye was a beast on the boards, totaling 14 rebounds.
Patrick Nguyen led Seton (10-0) with 20 points, and junior forward Stephen Barber was key inside for the mainly guard-oriented Conquistadors. Barber had 15 points and nine rebounds and controlled the middle on defense. Dominic Nguyen added 10 points and five assists, while junior Luke Vander Woude added seven points.
Seton displayed a versatile attack en route to shooting 51% from the field on the day. When the Phoenix played man-to-man, Seton was able to penetrate the lane. When the Phoenix played zone, Seton was still able to still hit threes and get offensive rebounds.
“It is a balanced attack, I think our guard play allows us to go off the dribble, to be able to shoot the three,” said Coach Vander Woude. “We’re very unselfish…we share the ball really well. Our three-point shot wasn’t going down as well as it has in the past, but we found other ways to get it done.”
–Chris Jollay
all statistics are unofficial
| SETON | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| BARBER | 6-9 | 3-9 | 15 | 9 | 0 | |
| P. NGUYEN | 8-12 | 1-4 | 20 | 7 | 2 | |
| L. VANDER WOUDE | 3-4 | 0-0 | 7 | 0 | 1 | |
| D. NGUYEN | 3-4 | 4-4 | 10 | 3 | 5 | |
| P. VANDER WOUDE | 0-7 | 2-2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | |
| M. Vander Woude | 1-5 | 2-4 | 5 | 3 | 1 | |
| Compton | 2-3 | 0-0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | |
| N. Vander Woude | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 23-45 | 12-23 | 63 | 30 | 11 | |
| Threes: P. Nguyen 3-5, L. Vander Woude 1-1, M. Vander Woude 1-3, N. Vander Woude 0-1, P. Vander Woude 0-3 | ||||||
| ROCK RIDGE | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| BECK | 2-8 | 1-2 | 7 | 0 | 3 | |
| MOTILEWA | 10-17 | 2-2 | 22 | 5 | 6 | |
| FERRELL | 2-4 | 0-0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | |
| DESAI | 5-8 | 1-2 | 14 | 5 | 1 | |
| OKOYE | 3-9 | 2-4 | 8 | 13 | 1 | |
| Cranford | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Kulkarni | 2-4 | 0-0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | |
| Stewart | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 24-50 | 6-10 | 61 | 25 | 11 | |
| Threes: | ||||||