By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
The Rossville boys overcame a 14-point second-quarter deficit to pull away from Silver Lake in a wild second half, winning 79-74.
As would be expected in the heated “War on 24,” the intensity lasted from wire-to-wire Tuesday night at Rossville.
Junior Jack Donovan (3) scored 28 points in Rossville's 79-74 win over Silver Lake Tuesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Down 28-14 two minutes into the second period, the Bulldawgs kept the faith and let junior Jack Donovan start chipping away. His seven points keyed a 14-6 run the rest of the period. The Bulldawgs went to the locker room down just 34-30.
The Bulldawgs continued to roll on the other side of the intermission. They went on a 29-3 run that saw them lead by as much as 19.
“We’ve been in this situation before. We’ve got to learn how to deal with that adversity and the boys have to figure that out on the court,” Rossville coach Brandon McDonnell said. “So, when we get into these pressure situations, they embrace it. And that makes it even sweeter when they get out of that pressure situation.”
“I think we were fine, but we were ready to fight back,” Donovan said about falling behind early. “Coach is fiery. He gets us to play hard and it’s fun. We just started hitting shots, playing better defense, getting stops. That’s what let us go on that run.”
After being held to just two points in the opening period, Donovan lit up the Eagles for 28, including four long-range 3-pointers.
“When he’s pulling these long-distance threes, we’re not surprised by it because that’s what he does,” McDonnell said. “If he misses, we’re like ‘You sick? What’s wrong?’ ”
“I’ve been watching these games my entire life, and it’s just fun to play in them,” Donovan said of the rivalry with Silver Lake. “It’s definitely a different atmosphere.”
Silver Lake didn’t pack it in after its lead dissipated. The Eagles ramped up the pace, scoring 32 points in the fourth period. Rossville made just enough plays to hold off the rally.
Supporting Donovan were Kameron Badura and Cameron Miller with 15 apiece and Jakoby McDonnell with 10.
Silver Lake junior Dayne Johnson (2) scored 37 points in Tuesday's 79-74 loss to Rossville. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Silver Lake was paced by junior Dayne Johnson, who hit 15 of 27 attempts for 37 points, exactly half his team’s points.
“That doesn’t surprise me. The kid’s good,” McDonnell said of Johnson. “He’s not only a good player. He’s a good kid. Going into that game, we knew he was going to get his. We can’t be naïve. So, for him to get his 37, it doesn’t surprise us, but we’ve got to shut everybody else down. We talked at halftime that he’s a great player, but we can’t let just him beat us.”
McDonnell and the Bulldawgs relished winning the latest installment of the “War on 24.”
“It doesn’t get any better than that,” the coach said. “The historic rivalry, the setting. You wouldn’t have it any other way. That’s what this atmosphere is going to bring every single time.”
ROSSVILLE BOYS 79, SILVER LAKE 74
Silver Lake 20 14 8 32 -- 74
Rossville 12 18 26 23 -- 79
Silver Lake (3-1, 2-1) – D. Johnson 15-27 6-9 37, Deiter 5-11 2-2 13, Whitehead 0-2 2-2 2, Bergmann 2-3 0-0 4, Coffman 2-4 2-6 6, Razzano 0-4 0-2 0, J. Johnson 4-13 2-2 12, Strausbaugh 0-0 0-0 0, Rooks 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 28-64 15-24 74.
Rossville (3-1, 1-0) – McDonnell 3-9 4-4 10, Donovan 9-15 5-5 28, Miller 5-7 4-4 15, B. Bush 3-7 0-8 6, Badura 7-10 1-2 15, Jackson 1-1 0-0 2, Koch 2-3 0-0 4, C. Bush 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 30-52 14-23 79.
3-point goals – Silver Lake 3 (J. Johnson 2, Deiter 1), Rossville 5 (Donovan 4, Miller 1). Total fouls – Silver Lake 20, Rossville 17. Fouled out – Coffman, Miller. Technical fouls – McDonnell, Razzano.
