CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – Rossview boys basketball entered its road matchup Tuesday with Northeast in search of a win to remain in the hunt for the District 10-AAA regular-season championship.
The defending district-champion Eagles failed to fend off the hungry Hawks, dropping their second game of the season to Rossview 78-58.
Northeast boys basketball coach Sam Young believes the Hawks match up well with his group, but that there is more to the two losses than just what meets the eye.
“They got a little bit of everything,” Young said. “They have a good big down low, good perimeter players and good shooters. They do match up well with us, but for some reason we just haven’t played real well against them yet. We just didn’t follow our game plan tonight.”
Keys to the game
The Hawks came out energized, building a 12-3 lead right out of the gate. Rossview boys basketball coach Johnny Jackson was pleased with the sense of urgency his team showed against the Eagles.
“They’re a really good team and you can’t get behind against a team like that,” Jackson said. “We kind of dug ourselves a hole against Clarksville High and we’re not very good at coming back from that. You have to just come out ready to go. We knew that we were going to get their best effort tonight because we had beat them at our place. I thought we came out full of energy and were very physical.”
Uncharacteristic turnovers, poor shot selection at times and an inability to close out on open shooters resulted in a 19-point deficit at the half for Northeast.
After an on-the-court meeting for during the break, the Eagles began the second half on a 8-0 run to cut the Hawk lead down to 11 points.
Young shared what he said to his team to help them get back in it momentarily.
“We just tried to fix some of the things that we were talking to them about yesterday in walkthrough,” Young said. “We settled for a lot of jump shots instead of trying to get into the paint and draw some of their bigs out. … It’s an emphasis for us every game. Sometimes we do it and sometimes we don’t and when we don’t, we’re not real good.”
With one minute left to play in the third quarter, Rossview’s Tim Williams Jr. knocked down a shot from long distance before Bryant Rippy capped off a three-point play from the charity stripe.
“I just saw two seniors who wanted to win really bad and did what it took to kind of secure the win there,” Jackson said of the sequence of plays. “Bryant and Tim have been around for a long time and it was good to see them hit big shots at a really big point in that game.”
Key players
Hawk sophomores Messiah Ward and Ronald Jessamy also got in on the action, putting on full display why they are already forces to be reckoned with despite being underclassmen.
“They’re two talented guys with a lot of growth left to go,” Jackson said. “They’re nowhere near tapped out in potential. I think their skill level is just going to get better. It’s a pretty nice combo to have a big kid like that who’s that young and then a guard who’s been making big buckets in big games.”
Even though it has been an up-and-down season so far for the Hawks, they still remain very much in the hunt for a district title. Jackson understands now is the time for his group to seize their opportunity.
“Well I hope so, because this is when you need to start playing well,” Jackson said of gaining some potential momentum. “Going on the road, we knew we had to steal one this week. We still have Kenwood coming up, but we needed to get Northeast to get any kind of semblance of getting up there at the top. We couldn’t have five losses and still win the regular season. Now, we still have a fighting chance, we just have to go out every night with that same mentality and let the chips fall where they do.”
Ward finished with 17 points while Rippy finished with 16 points for the Hawks.
Northeast’s Keaton Allen scored 17 points followed by Jaylan Miller with 15 points.
Rossview gets Kenwood at home up next, Friday, Jan. 29 at 7:30 p.m.
What’s next
The last time the two schools met, the Knights dealt the Hawks a 21-point loss. This time, Jackson and company are looking to return the favor.
“All gas, no brakes,” Jackson said of the message to his team ahead of Friday’s game. “We can’t slow down. We will not ever overlook anyone. We just have to come out and give great effort. They’re so good with the ball and shot it really well that night. Hopefully our guys are just mature enough to know that we have a challenge every night that we play in 10-AAA.”
Northeast welcomes in a talented Franklin bunch Thursday, Jan. 28 at 7:30 p.m before returning to district play against Springfield on Friday.
“We can’t look past Franklin or we’ll get beat by 50,” Young said. “They’re number three in the state, so we have to come in here tomorrow have a good day of practice and try to prepare for them as much as possible. But really, it’s not so much about preparation for everybody else, we just have to get better as a team.”