Greyhounds get by ice-cold Rockets

With about 10 minutes left in the Feb. 10 Eastern Cloverbelt Conference boys basketball game between Spencer and Loyal, Rocket senior Caleb Rucker dived into the Loyal bench to try to save the ball from going out of bounds. Not even the ice water that flew from a water bottle under the bench and spilled across the Greyhounds’ gym floor was as cold as Spencer’s shooting.

Loyal emerged with a 42-33 win in a game that may have featured as many blocked shots as made field goals. Both team’s defenses had numerous swats on the night, but the Rockets had trouble converting even on open looks. Spencer still managed to stay within six points with 1:23 to play, until Loyal hit five of eight free throws down the stretch to win it.

Loyal started strong, taking an 11-2 lead after 10 minues of play on a Deagan Sandelier 3-pointer following Connor Genteman’s offensive board. Spencer turned things around with a 15-5 run started by Rucker’s 3-pointer and then 4-4 free-throw shooting from Rucker and Degan Hainz. Hainz’ score from the low block on a Noah Schultz assist gave the Rockets a 19-16 halftime edge.

Loyal started the second half on an 11-0 run as the Rocket shooters went cold. Kaiden Hagen scored five points for Loyal to push its lead to 27-19. A Sandelier 3-pointer with 6:06 to play gave the Greyhounds their biggest lead at 35-22.

Hagen’s 13 points led Loyal while Sandelier added 10, Brandon Jakobi scored eight and Drew Stieglitz contributed seven. Hainz and Rucker each scored nine points for Spencer and Schultz added seven.

Loyal was 14-22 at the line on the night while the Rockets converted 12 of 20 attempts.

DEAN LESAR/STAFF PHOTO