Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

WELLSTON — The Ice Man cometh.

When Wellston tried to “ice” Rock Hill’s Joey Stidham, the junior guard proved to have ice water in his veins.

Stidham hit the second of two foul shots with three-tenths of a second on the clock to give the Redmen a 59-58 win over the Golden Rockets Tuesday.

With the score tied, Rock Hill held for the final shot and Stidham drove to the basket and was fouled.

Wellston had four timeouts remaining and used all four to try and “ice” Stidham. But the strategy worked only temporarily as Stidham missed the first shot and made the second for the win.

“We held for the last shot and we told them to go to the basket,” said Rock Hill coach Dave Hopper. “We told them to shoot or get fouled.”

Austin Collins scored 15 points and had 4 steals to lead the Redmen (2-4). John Jenkins hit three 3-pointers and scored 12 points.

Toriano Smith had 21 points and Andrew Richards scored 14 to pace Wellston.

Rock Hill led 11-8 at the end of the first quarter. Collins scored 7 points and Jenkins hit a pair of 3-pointers to extend the lead to 28-23 at the half. Smith scored 8 points in the quarter for Wellston.

Collins had 6 more points in the third quarter as Rock Hill opened up a 48-38 lead.

The Redmen were up 12 in the fourth quarter when Jordan Arthur hit a pair of 3-pointers and Smith had a pair of put-backs to tie the game and set up Stidham’s winning free throw.

Hopper said one key for the Redmen was just six turnovers.

“We took care of the basketball and we shot pretty decent,” said Hopper.

Rock Hill 11 17 20 11 = 59

Wellston 8 15 15 20 = 58

ROCK HILL (2-4): Evan Morris 4 0 0-0 8, Joey Stidham 3 0 1-3 7, Austin Collins 2 3 3-6 15, John Jenkins 0 3 3-4 12, Jacob Falls 3 0 0-0 6, Shane Harper 1 0 1-2 3, Layden Delawder 2 1 0-0 7. Totals: 15 7 8-15 59. Fouls: 9. Fouled out: None. Turnovers: 6.

WELLSTON (4-2): Colton Ervin 1 1 0-0 5, Andrew Richards 6 0 2-3 14, Dakota Brown 3 0 0-0 6, Justus Ousley 2 0 2-2 6, Jordan Arthur 0 2 0-0 6, Toriano Smith 8 0 5-8 21. Totals: 20 3 9-13 58. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: Brown.