Roughriders fall to Cards, Warriors
The Roughriders Boys’ Basketball team are still searching for a win after two losses last week. The team fell 41-31 to Alma on Tuesday, Dec. 15, and 42-26 to Arapahoe on Friday.
Tuesday, Alma took an early lead and didn’t let up. The Cardinals won the first three quarters, 13-7, 10-6 and 12-10, respectively. The Roughriders won 8-6 in the fourth, but the effort wasn’t enough to overpower the Cardinals who took the game 41-31.
Points were evenly distributed for Southwest. Senior Justin Brush led with 10, sophomore Kaiden Ruggles followed with 8. Sophomores Kaden Day and Hunter Cunningham put in five each, with sophomores Zack Ryan, two, and Cole Barnett, one, completing the 31 points.
Cunningham sunk the team’s only 3-pointer. Day went 3-of-4 at the free line with Ruggles going 2-of-4. Ryan and Barnett were perfect at the line, sinking 2-of-2 and 1-of-1, respectively.
Cunningham also handed out three assists, while freshman Nathan Rippe and Barnett dished out one each.
Ruggles grabbed nine offensive and five defensive rebounds for 14 total. Brush grabbed five total. Overall, the team snagged 16 offensive and 14 defensive for 3o total. The team grabbed 13 total steals with Day stealing six. Barnett, Cunningham and Ruggles stole four, two and one, respectively. Ruggles blocked one shot.
Friday, against Arapahoe, the Roughriders kept things close in the first quarter, tying at ii. Arapahoe took the lead, 22-17, in the second and continued the trend to 34-20 iat the third and 42-26 at the final buzzer.
Brush and Cunningham each scored seven points on the night with Ryan following with six. Ruggles and Day contributed four and two, respectively.
Ryan’s points were sunk as two 3-pointers. The team went 3-of-9 from behind the arc.
Brush grabbed nine rebounds to lead the team — six defensive and three offensive. Cunningham also grabbed six offensive rebounds.
The team stole seven balls with Cunningham, Day and Rippe snagging two and Brush, one. Brush blocked six of the team’s total nine blocks. Ruggles blocked two and Ryan, one.
The Roughriders final game of the 2020 season will be at Southern Valley on Dec. 22. The 2021 season will open at Hi-Line on Saturday, Jan. 2.
