It was a rough week for Tiger Nation on the hard courts. The Blue and Gold boys’ team lost both of their district games.
On Wednesday, after a delay because of winter weather, the Yoemen of Cameron came to Tiger Gym. While the Tigers put up a big fight and it looked like they were going to pull out another last-second win, they came up short and lost to their cross-river rivals, 64-58.
The Tigers had a surge towards the end of the game and got within five points with only two minutes left. It then got even closer as the red-hot Tigers turned to senior David Penny again who did his job by hitting his clutch signature shot with only 30 seconds left, making the score Cameron 60, Rockdale 58.
Anyone with heart issues probably needed to be close to a defibrillator as the level of excitement and stress went up to the rafters. Penny’s shot was, however, where the magic ended and Cameron left with a victory over Big Blue. The final score was 64-58. It always hurts to lose, but to lose to anyone wearing maroon and grey is even harder. Tiger Nation will be in mourning until we get a chance to win in Cameron on Feb. 9.
“At halftime we addressed the lack of aggression on rebounding and the need to focus more as a team on the offensive side of the ball,” said Head Basketball Coach Sean Lexima. “I told our team this game was within our reach, but we had to do a better job defensively.”
“Overall, I think we are sitting in a good place,” he added. “We are a young team and, unfortunately, making mistakes young teams make. We will grow through it. We need to learn how to win.”
If you were at this game you could see the change in the Tigers as they came out of the locker room for the second half. It’s obvious these young men like playing for Coach Lexima and responded to his team address.
The Tigers then traveled to Academy to take on the Bumblebees. The final score was Academy 62, Rockdale 36.
COMING UP— Next up for the team was to be a home game against Lexington on Tuesday. They then take a road trip to McGregor on Friday. Game time is 7:30 p.m.
Lady Tigers
Last week the Lady Tigers broke even. They beat rival Cameron 52-38 and then lost to Academy 67-33.
The Cameron game was a fight but these Lady Tigers have fight in them and they battled through a momentum change in a rough second quarter when the Lady Yoe got on fire with their shooting. That fire was quenched in the third quarter as Rockdale took back control and finished the game strong.
Key players to this victory were Ciara Miles who had 18 points, five rebounds and seven steals with five assists; Trinity Hurd put up 13 points and had nine steals; Jazalle Dunn had seven points with 12 rebounds; and Tanisha McBride gave the Lady Tigers six points.
Again the final was Rockdale 52, Cameron 38.
The Lady Tigers played Academy late in the week but could not get a W for the win column and fell to the 8-1 Bumblebees, 67-38.
Rockdale is now 5-4 in district play. The season is coming to a close very soon with only five games left in the regular season.
COMING UP— This week the Lady Tigers were to play a struggling 1-7 Lexington Eagle team in Tiger Gym on Tuesday. On Friday, they travel to McGregor to take on the 2-6 Bulldogs. Game time is 6:15 p.m.
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