The Paton-Churdan Rockets hosted the Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton Spartans in Friday night hoops and split games. In the girls game, the Spartans topped the Rockets 67-45. In the boys game, the Rockets beat the Spartans by nearly the same margin, 60-39.
In the girls game, the score was tied at 34 at half-time, with junior Carleigh Paup leading the Rockets with 21 points, including three 3-point shots. The Spartan defense slowed down Paup and the rest of the team for the second half, holding Paup to four additional points and the entire rest of the team to another seven.
The Spartans were able to maintain their scoring pace for 33 points in the second half while limiting the Rockets to 11 points. The Spartans made it to the free throw line more often than the Rockets and they made the charity shots counts. The Spartans were 12 for 19 at the line for the game, while the Rockets had five free throws, making three of them, in the first half. They had no free throws in the second half.
Other Rocket scorers along with Paup were freshman Grace Geisler with 13 points, junior Kasey Lane with five points, and junior Sydney Koch with two points.
After the Rockets lost the girls game by 22 points, they won the boys game by 21 points, 600-39. The score was 28-19 in favor of the Rockets at the half, and the Rockets stretched the lead in the second half.
Senior Jake Carey led the Rockets in scoring with 22 points, including a pair of second half 3-pointers. Freshman Joe Towers scored 12 points with two 3-pointers, and senior Colton Fitzpatrick scored 11 points with two 3-point baskets. Junior Noah Juergensen scored eight points, senior Dylan Burgart scored five points and senior Jacob Bundt scored two points.
The Rocket girls are now 7-5 overall and 7-4 in the Rolling Valley Activities Conference. The boys are 10-2 overall and 10-1 in the Rolling Valley.
