Rockets Win Two of Three

By Ryan Heck

Okawville 47, New Athens 42

The Okawville Rockets traveled to New Athens last Tuesday night and came away with a hard fought 47-42 victory over the host Yellow Jackets.

Ethan Riechmann got things for the Rockets with a runner in lane, only for the Yellow Jackets to answer with a 9-0 run to take a 9-2 lead in the early going. Grant Schleifer and Dillon Teter responded with a pair of three pointers to pull the Rockets with 9-8. After another basket from New Athens, the Rockets closed the quarter strong and held a 19-15 lead after the opening frame.

After a high scoring opening quarter, the pace slowed down in the second quarter.  With the lead changing hands several times, a late basket from Andy Savard pulled the Rockets into a 26-26 tie heading into halftime.

New Athens took control of the game early in the third quarter, using a 5-0 run to take a 31-26 lead.  A three point play from freshmen Aidan Anderson late in the third quarter got the Rockets back within striking distance as they trailed 34-30.

Cole Wiedwilt started off the final quarter with five points to pull the Rockets even. With the score tied late in the game, Savard snagged an offensive rebound off a missed free throw and got fouled in the process.  Savard knocked down both free throws and gave the Rockets a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the game.

Riechmann and Schleifer led the Rockets with 13 and 11 points respectively.  Also contributing to the scoring column were Wiedwilt with six, Anderson five, Teter and Savard four apiece, and Hayden Shubert and Joe Jansen each had two.

Read the full story in this week’s issue