Rockcreek players hoist the trophy after winning Saturday’s Elementary Basketball League Championship boys game against Southside in Memorial Gymnasium at Columbus North High School.
Tommy Walker | For The Republic
Southside’s girls put together a fourth-quarter comeback to win Saturday’s Elementary Basketball League championship.
The Southside boys’ fourth-quarter comeback, on the other hand, came up a little short.
The Mustangs rallied from a 12-point second-half deficit to within three in the fourth quarter Saturday afternoon, but Rockcreek held on for a 41-36 victory to claim the boys title.
“Most people, this is the biggest game they’ve ever played in,” Rockcreek boys coach Josh McDonald said. “Their pressure got to us a little bit, but they stayed together and pulled it out.”
Rockcreek, which beat Southside by 21 points in the regular season, jumped out to a 16-4 lead after one quarter. They still led 25-13 early in the third before the Mustangs’ pressure began forcing turnovers and baskets in transition.
“We really worked on focusing on ball pressure,” Southside coach Jayden Peek said. “Rockcreek is used to playing on a smaller court, so we thought that playing on a bigger court, we’d try and pressure the ball and try to tire them out a little sooner. We knew they liked to press, specifically a 2-2-1, so I tried to put in a more advanced press-breaker. Last time we played, their ball pressure and our turnovers killed us, so we tried to really focus on limiting the turnovers, and I think that played a really big role in us playing them a lot closer today.”
Jordan Krueger had 10 points and eight rebounds, and Hudson Bozell scored 10 points to lead a balanced Rockcreek attack. Myles McDonald had eight points, Jaxsen Jolliff scored seven and Rhylan Hull added six.
“It’s crazy,” Krueger said. “But we worked all season for it, and we just earned it. A ‘W’ is a ‘W.’”
Max Turner led Southside with 12 points and nine rebounds. Bryson Talbert scored 11 points, and Mario Sawin added nine.
Rockcreek, which capped a perfect 12-0 season, won its first EBL boys title since 2008 and its fourth overall. The team featured four fifth-graders and only one sixth-grader in the starting lineup.
“We had to work as a team, and that made us win the game,” Myles McDonald said. “We worked together. We do everything together as a team. It was awesome.”
Meanwhile, the girls game that preceded the boys contest was tight throughout. Richards led 15-12 after three quarters, but Southside scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter to take a 20-15 lead with 3:37 remaining.
The score stayed that way until the final minute, when the Raiders got a free throw and basket by Khloe Kintner to cut the lead to 20-17. A Southside free throw from Katie Mangas pushed the lead back to four, and Richards got a basket from Kintner with two seconds left before the Mustangs were able to close it out.
“I just kind of reminded them what I told them at the start of the game, which was that I think we have a better skill set this year, but it was going to be a mental game,” Southside girls coach Sydney Wells said. “It was up to them if they wanted to win it, and they absolutely stepped up. Ultimately, we have a really deep team, and that not only helped us during the season, but it helped us when we got in foul trouble. We knew we could pull from the bench and still come out with a win.”
Andrea Zavala-Barba scored eight points, and Mangas added seven points and 10 rebounds to lead the Mustangs.
“We honestly worked really hard for this, and I definitely think our entire team deserved it,” Zavala-Barba said. “I’m so glad we won. Like coach Sydney said, defense wins games, and it ended up really paying off.”
Kintner finished with 10 points to lead the Raiders. Denieka Cox grabbed 10 rebounds.
“They kind of ran out of gas, but we played hard,” Richards coach Dick Macy said. “It was just a battle. When we played them during the season, it was a close game. We had a good season. Anytime you’re in the championship game, you can’t complain.”
The girls game was a rematch of last year’s title game, which was won by Richards. Southside avenged that loss and finished unbeaten this season.
“It’s really exciting because last year was a big letdown for most people, but this year, we definitely deserve it,” Mangas said. “We got an undefeated season, and we just really deserve this win. We worked as a team. Defense, I think we did really good. It was a tough game, but we really pulled through.”
GIRLS: Southside 21, Richards 19
Richards;5;6;4;4;—;19
Southside;8;2;2;9;—;21
Richards: Harper Gatewood 1 0-2 2, Morgan Newland 0 0-0 0, Khloe Kintner 3 4-10 10, Denieka Cox 1 1-4 3, Paysen Hashman 1 2-4 4. Totals: 6 7-20 19.
Southside: McKenna Bates 0 0-0 0, Andrea Zavala-Barba 4 0-2 8, Emerson Knapp 1 0-0 2, Harper Pothier-Van Vactor 1 0-0 2, Katie Mangas 2 3-4 7, Olivia Shehan 0 0-0 0, Alexis Pothier-Van Vactor 1 0-0 2. Totals: 9 3-8 21.
BOYS: Rockcreek 41, Southside 36
Southside;4;9;13;10;—;36
Rockcreek;16;6;9;10;—;41
Southside: Jaxon Murray 2 0-0 4, Mario Sawin 3 3-4 9, Samuel Bennett 0 0-0 0, Max Turner 5 2-4 12, Bryson Talbert 5 1-2 11. Totals: 15 6-10 36.
Rockcreek: August Whipker 0 0-0 0, Rhylan Hull 2 2-4 6, Myles McDonald 3 2-4 8, Tike Fox 0 0-0 0, Hudson Bozell 5 0-0 10, Howard Miller 0 0-0 0, Jordan Krueger 5 0-0 10, Jaxsen Jolliff 3 1-1 7. Totals: 18 5-9 41.
