By Rob Potter
ROSCOE — January 22, 2008 — The first half of Friday night’s Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA) Division VI basketball game between the visiting Family School Falcons and Roscoe Blue Devils was very close and competitive.
The first and second periods featured six lead changes and five ties as neither team could gain more than a six-point advantage.
In the third quarter, however, Roscoe (7-5, 1-5 Division VI) opened up a 39-30 lead. The Blue Devils then withstood a Falcons’ comeback and went on to earn a 64-52 victory.
It didn’t take long for The Family School (2-12, 1-4 Division VI) to reduce its nine-point deficit. With 5:06 remaining in the third period, Chris Robinson scored on a baseline drive to the hoop while being fouled. He then swished his free throw to bring the Falcons to within six points at 39-33.
In the next minute, Joe DeRosa hit an 18-foot jump shot and Robinson scored inside to make it a 39-37 game.
With 3:39 left, Roscoe’s Jayson Harris stole the ball near midcourt and sprinted toward the Blue Devils’ basket. He made a layup while being fouled. Harris then made his foul shot to push his team’s advantage to 42-37.
The Family School closed to within a point early in the fourth quarter. With 7:03 remaining in the frame, Falcon point guard Juan Garcia swished a pair of free throws to make it a 44-43 contest.
But the Blue Devils answered with a 12-3 scoring run during the next five minutes to take a 56-46 advantage with exactly two minutes left. Adam Hendrix knocked down a pair of 3-point shots to key the Roscoe run.
Roscoe had a balanced scoring attack as four players finished in double figures. Harris led the way with a game-high 23 points. Cody DeRosia netted 11 points, while Hendrix and Clay Banks each had 10 points.
Joe Ladenhauf added eight points for the Blue Devils.
Harris scored nearly half of his points at the free-throw line. He made 11-of-13 (85 percent) foul shots overall and was 9-of-11 (82 percent) at the line in the fourth quarter.
“Free-throw shooting made a difference tonight,” Roscoe Coach Fred Ahart said. “We did a good job at the line and making those foul shots helped us protect the lead.”
While noting that The Family School “played a good game,” Ahart praised his own team as well.
“The second half was big for us, we started to get our offense going,” he said. “Adam’s 3-pointers were key shots. Adam [Hendrix], Jayson [Harris], Cody [DeRosia], Clay [Banks], Joe Ladenhauf and Seth Darbee all played well tonight.”
Family School Coach Ted Towsley noted that rebounding was a key factor in the outcome.
“We didn’t do a good job of rebounding,” he said. “Roscoe did a better job than we did. They scored a lot of second chance points after getting offensive rebounds.
“No. 12 [Jayson Harris] did a nice job for them and No. 14 [Adam Hendrix] made a couple of key 3-pointers,” Towsley continued. “It’s always good to play against Roscoe. It’s a well-coached team that plays hard.”
He added that one of the positives for his team was the performance of Robinson.
“Chris shot the ball very well tonight,” Towsley said.