Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

PEDRO — This time when the Rock Hill Redmen ran into a roadblock, they went through instead of waiting for the obstruction to clear.

The Redmen rose to the challenge Saturday as they rallied in the fourth quarter to beat the Racine Southern Tornadoes 52-49.

“The big thing is we kept fighting. We kept fighting through adversity,” said Rock Hill coach Dave Hopper. “They had the big kid (Chandler Drummer) and he was tough. We just had to make adjustments to find something that worked.”

After struggling to score only 26 points on Friday, the Redmen (3-9) bounced back offensively. Austin Collins had 18 points to go with 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 steals. Layden Delawder scored 11 and Joey Stidham had 4 rebounds and 3 steals.

“I thought Collins had a nice game. He showed some leadership,” said Hopper.

Drummer scored 13 points and Tristen Wolfe 10 to lead Southern (6-6).

Rock Hill’s offense struggled in the first quarter as Southern took a 14-5 lead.

But Evan Morris scored 6 of his 8 points in the second quarter as Rock Hill battled back to get within 28-22 at the half.

The Redmen were within 38-33 after three quarters despite 6 points by Drummer. Rock Hill then outscored the Tornadoes 19-11 in the fourth quarter.

Jacob Falls scored 7 points for the Redmen and Collins had 10 points including 4 of 7 from the line down the stretch.

Southern’s Taylor McNickle scored 6 points in the fourth quarter for Southern in an attempt to maintain the lead.

Southern 14 14 10 11 = 49

Rock Hill 5 17 11 19 = 52

RACINE SOUTHERN (6-6): Tristen Wolfe 4 0 2-2 10, Hunter Johnson 1 0 0-0 2, Trenton Deem 1 1 0-0 5, Taylor McNickle 1 1 1-1 6, Zac Beegle 1 0 0-0 2, Adam Pape 2 1 1-3 8, Casey Pickens 1 0 1-2 3, Chandler Drummer 5 0 3-6 13, Dennis Teaford 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16 3 8-14 49. Fouls: 21. Fouled out: None.

ROCK HILL (3-9): Evan Morris 2 1 1-2 8, Joey Stidham 0 1 0-0 3, Austin Collins 5 0 8-11 18, John Jenkins 2 0 0-0 4, Jacob Falls 2 1 0-0 7, Shane Harper 0 0 1-2 1, Layden Delawder 1 2 3-4 11. Totals: 12 5 13-19 52. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: None.