Spencer gains upper hand versus Greenwood
The Spencer boys basketball team cruised to a win at Greenwood last week after taking some time to gain their footing in the first half.
The Jan. 6 game opened with a 2-point jumper from Spencer’s Luke Roehrborn, who would be a frequent scorer that night. He added a free throw a short time later. Then his teammate, junior Jonathan Jonas, got a fast break leading to a layup. Shortly after that, Spencer senior Nathan Rucker went to the line and put in both shots. Just like that, Spencer was up 7-0, making it seem like it would be a runaway game.
However, over the next few minutes, the Greenwood boys gradually fought their way back into it. Senior Christian Thomas scored Greenwood’s first points of the game off a quick pass inside. A couple minutes later, he grabbed his own rebound and put it back in for two. After that, Greenwood senior Rogan Travis added a free throw. Then it was Thomas again, this time with Greenwood’s first 3-point basket of the game, to make it 12-10 with Spencer ahead. Shortly after, Rucker countered that with a 3-pointer of his own.
By the time the clock ticked down to 7:49 left in the half, Spencer was leading 17-15, and the level of energy from both sides suggested that it was anyone’s game.
Spencer Coach Clint Nieman said that nerves caused his team to take a while to settle down in the first half.
“We were a little anxious and wanting to perform well. We needed to relax,” he said.
Once the Rockets did relax and find their groove, there was no looking back. The Rockets went on a 7-point scoring run, including another three by Rucker, which took some of the wind out of Greenwood’s sails. A timeout was called at 6:10 left and immediately after that, Greenwood’s Ryver Glynn put in two. However, the score was still Spencer 26, Greenwood 15. Over the rest of the half, Spencer did not relent and widened the gap even more. The half wrapped up with Rucker sinking three free throws in a row to put the score at 40-20 Spencer.
As the second half got underway, Greenwood and Spencer were fairly even in their scoring output. Over the first six minutes, Greenwood scored 11 points while Spencer had 12. Four minutes later, and the gap remained at 20 points between the two teams, with the score 5939 Spencer. Greenwood even shortened the gap to 18 points a little bit later.
But, towards the end of the game, Spencer hit the gas pedal again. The Rockets went on an 11-point run with 6:44 remaining and a 6-point run with about three minutes remaining. Those scoring runs combined with several shots just not falling for Greenwood put more distance between the two teams. In the end, Greenwood took the loss, 83-54.
“I thought we brought a lot of effort. Offensively, we moved the ball around well,” said Nieman.
Six players got in on the scoring action for the Rockets. Jonas had 22 points, all off of 2-pointers with the exception of two free throws. Rucker was close behind with 18 points. He made three shots from beyond the arc and made all five of his free throw attempts, all in the first half.
“Nathan Rucker really brought it tonight. He really came to play,” said Nieman.
Roehrborn had 16 points, including four 2-pointers and eight free throws. Other scorers were freshman Sam Bezlyk with 10 points and sophomore Reed Knecht with three points.
On Greenwood’s side, Travis led the way with 24 points. Nine of those points were from the charity stripe. Thomas had 18 points. Glynn scored five points and senior Luke Plechacek chipped in two.
The game gave Spencer its first win conference play, putting the Rockets’ record at 1-3, the same as Greenwood.
Spencer junior Jonathan Jonas leaps up for two after racing to the basket on a fast break. Jonas was his team’s leading scorer in the Jan. 6 game versus Greenwood, putting up 22 points.
VALORIE BRECHT/STAFF PHOTO
