PORTSMOUTH — A tough loss just made the Rock Hill Redmen tougher.

After losing at the buzzer on Friday night, the Redmen proved to have a tough mental state as they beat the Portsmouth Clay Panthers 63-53 Saturday.

“It was a nice win for us on the road. The kids bounced back real well after a tough game (Friday) night. The whole team played well,” said Rock Hill coach Bob Wilds.

Sam Cooke led the win with a game-high 24 points to go with 6 rebounds. Will McCollister had 11 points and 5 rebounds while Jeremy Blagg added 9 points and 6 assists.

Clay went ahead 20-15 at the end of the first quarter. Devin Darby, Cooke and McCollister combined for 14 of Rock Hill’s points.

Both teams scored 6 points in the second quarter with Cooke getting 5 including a 3-poiner just before the half.

The Redmen shut down the Clay offense a second straight quarter as they outscored the Panthers 21-7 to grab a 42-33 lead. Cooke scored 8 points and Blagg 4 in the quarter.

Rock Hill led by as many as 16 points in the fourth quarter as Cooke and McCollister combined for 11 points. The Redmen were 8 of 14 from the foul line to help clinch the win.

Cody Bussler scored 18 points and Jon Valentine 10 for Clay.

Rock Hill 15 6 21 20 = 63

Ports. Clay 20 6 7 20 = 53

ROCK HILL (5-7): Jeremy Blagg 3 0 3-4 9, Will McCollister 4 0 3-6 11, Shane Russell 3 0 1-3 7, Ryan Albright 0 0 0-0 0, Devin Darby 2 1 0-0 7, Trey Wilds 0 0 2-2 2, Mitchell Patterson 0 0 0-0 0, Andy Knipp 1 0 1-2 3, Sam Cooke 9 1 3-4 24. Totals: 24-48 13-21 63. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: 2. Rebounds: 17 (Cooke 6, McCollister 5). Assists: 14 (Blagg 6, Wilds 3). Steals: 8 (Russell 3). Turnovers: 8.

PORTSMOUTH CLAY (NA): Chaz Lawson 1 0 4-6 6, Cody Delontel 2 1 0-2 7, Jon Valentine 5 0 0-2 10, Cody Bussler 2 4 2-2 18, Cameron Caseman 0 0 0-0 0, Gabe Duduit 0 1 1-2 4, Nathan Burchett 2 0 0-1 4, Josh Porter 1 0 0-0 2, Max Graham 1 0 2-2 4. Totals: 14 6 7-17 53. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: Valentine.