Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

JACKSON — The Portsmouth West Senators won the game, but the Rock Hill Redmen won their coach’s respect.

West used a big second quarter to ignite a 59-39 win over the Redmen Tuesday in the Division III sectional tournament semifinals.

“West had a lot of size and talent, but our guys had a lot of heart. They battled and hung in their for two and a half quarters and then they got a littler tired from the game we played last night,” said Rock Hill coach Dave Hopper.

Zach Frye hit a 3-pointer and baseline jumper as West began the game with 5-0 lead.

Rock Hill rallied to take a 13-9 lead at the end of the quarter as Jacob Falls, Shane Harper and Austin Collins all made layups over the final 1:54 of the quarter.

But Rock Hill’s shooting turned as cold as the weather outside, making just one of eight shots from the field. The Redmen also had seven turnovers in the quarter as they scored only three points.

West hit 4-of-10 shots from 3-point range, two each by Zach Bolton and Josh Bolton.

West was up 17-13 when Evan Morris hit a short jumper for the Redmen at the 3:03 mark and it was 17-15.

The Senators finished the quarter with a 9-1 run and it was 26-16 at the half.

Hopper said West’s size was the key in the quarter.

“We went up and then we went cold. They hit three put-backs and they got the offensive rebound and kicked it out and hit 3s. It’s tough to fight that with a bunch of 6-footers,” said Hopper.

The Senators out-rebounded the Redmen 38-28 for the game. West had 19 offensive rebounds to just seven for Rock Hill.

A 3-pointer by Falls got the Redmen within 33-21 with 6:21 left in the third qurter, but West scored six unanswered points to lead 39-21.

Shane Harper and Laden Delawder made layups for the Redmen and it was 39-25, but West closed the quarter with an 8-2 run and it was 47-27.

Joey Stidham drained a 3-pointer to start the fourth quarter for the Redmen and a trifecta by Falls made it 49-33.

West then outscored the Redmen 8-2 and it was 57-35 with 3:40 left.

Falls led the Redmen with 12 points. Collins had eight points and nine rebounds.

Hafer scored 11 points and Zach Bolton 10 to lead West (13-10). J.B. Travis and Hafer had eight rebounds each.

Rock Hill finished the season 6-17.

“I enjoyed the season. These kids got six wins in more wayns than you can imagine,” said Hopper. Early on they could have given up, but they kept going.”

Rock Hill 13 3 11 12 = 39

Ports. West 9 17 21 12 = 59

ROCK HILL (6-17): Joey Stidham 0 1 1-4 4, Austin Collins 3 0 2-2 8, Jacob Falls 3 2 0-2 12, Shane Harper 3 0 0-1 6, Laden Delawder 2 1 0-0 7, Evan Morris 1 0 0-0 2, Aaron Dalton 0 0 0-0 0, Alex Nance 0 0 0-0 0, Austin Barcus 0 0 0-0 0, Chandler Haskins 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16-39 3-9 39. 3-point goals: 4-11. Rebounds: 7 offense, 21 defense= 28 (Collins 9, Delawder 5). Team rebounds: 4. Assists: 5 (Stidham 3). Steals: 7 (Falls 3, Stidham 2). Turnovers: 24. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: None.

PORTSMOUTH WEST (13-10): Zach Frye 2 1 0-0 7, Austin Bricker 2 0 2-2 6, Zach Bolton 2 2 0-0 10, Michael Hafer 3 0 5-5 11, J.B. Travis 1 1 2-2 7, Michael Davis 2 1 1-2 8, Steven Irwin 0 1 1-2 4, Josh Bolton 0 2 0-0 6, Christian Martin 0 0 0-0 0, Dylan Kouns 0 0 0-0 0, Austin Wetzel 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20-61 11-13 59. 3-point goals: 8-31. Rebounds: 19 offense, 19 defense = 38 (Hafer 8, Travis 8). Team rebounds: 8. Assists: 5 (Hafer 3). Steals: 12 (Travis 4). Turnovers: 12. Fouls: 10. Fouled out: None.