Comets wear down rockets

Jon Weisbrod

Published 12:47 a.m., December 11, 2009

UNDERWOOD — A stubborn defense and a early second half scoring surge sent the Hillcrest boys basketball team past Underwood 55-35 in a Little Eight Conference showdown Thursday night .

After a see-saw opening 15 minutes, the Comets broke a 21-21 tie with a 7-1 run in the final 2 minutes, 45 seconds of the first half, grabbing a 28-22 lead at the break.

From that point on, it was full speed ahead for the Comets.

Hillcrest opened the second half by scoring the first eight points of the frame and 12 of the first 14, building a commanding 40-24 lead when Andrew Hohncke banked in a lay-up after an offensive rebound with 11:58 on the clock.

“The biggest thing we did in the second half was regain our focus and settle down,” Hillcrest coach Gregg Preston said. “The guys were pretty excited to get going and I think we had some jitters early. We started working the ball in the paint (early in the second) and things started happening.”

With the Comets’ offense humming along, the defense clamped down on the suddenly sluggish Rockets rotation.

Attacking with an intense full court press and trapping half-court defense, Hillcrest forced 27 turnovers.

“I think we set the tone with our defense,” Preston said. “Our intensity hurt us a little right away and it was a little bit of a frenzy. But once we calmed down, I think we caused them some trouble. We wore them down.”

Underwood’s offense simply flat-lined in the after the break, converting just four shots from the field and scoring 17 points in the final 18 minutes. In fact, the Rockets — who were out-rebounded 38-18 — took almost five minutes score their first point in the second half and didn’t surpass 30 points until the 6:41-mark.

“Defense is something this team takes pride in,” Preston said. “I think we can always become better, but tonight was a good start. I am pleased with how we came out, especially in the second half.”

Added Underwood coach Curt Olson: “We just came out flat in the second half. I think their pressure got to us in the end.”

The Rockets kept the game close for most of the opening frame, thanks in large part to Collin Teich.

The slim sophomore drained a pair of 3-pointers and scored eight points in the first eight minutes, giving the Comets their first lead when he converted a fast break lay-up with 10:34 left before the break.

“He’s going to need to score for us this year,” Olson said. “He had a nice outing.”

The Comets quickly re-gained the lead with back-to-back baskets before the Rockets countered with a 7-2 run to grab their final lead at 20-19.

“They made some shots in the first half and kept things close,” Preston said. “It was pretty tight early on.”

Devon Apgar led the offensive charge for the Comets with 13 points, four of which came in the first four minutes of the second half. Jared Schultz — making his return to the hardwood after missing all of last season with a knee injury — added 10 while last season’s leading scorer, Andrew Hohncke, chipped in with 11.

Josh Wolderich cleaned the glass for the Comets with 10 rebounds.

Dalton Jampsa scored nine points to lead Underwood.

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