The Paton-Churdan boys beat the Woodbine Tigers at Woodbine Friday but lost to the Boyer Valley Bulldogs Saturday in Churdan.
In Friday’s game Woodbine scored just four points in the first quarter and the Rockets held a 17-4 lead at the end of the quarter. The Tigers outscored the Rockets by one point in the second quarter for a 29-17 score at halftime.
Coach Chris Stimson said the game was “one of those games. We jumped out to a quick lead but just allowed Woodbine to stick around.” He said the Tigers shoot 3-pointers well enough that “if they knocked down a couple it is a different finish.”
The Rockets scored 16 points in the third quarter to the Tigers’ nine for a 45-26 lead, but the Tigers didn’t quit. The fourth quarter was their best with 17 points as the Rockets put up 15 for the final score of 60-43.
Noah Juergensen and Joe Towers both scored 21 points. Juergensen made 10 field goals and was one of two at the free throw line. Towers made only three field goals, but he added a 3-pointer in each half and was nine of 11 for 81 percent at the free throw line. Towers’ free throw percentage for the season is 74.5.
The team as a whole was 11 of 15 for free throws for 73.3 percent, well ahead of its 64.9 percent pace for the season.
Jake Berns scored 10 points, Charlie Minnehan scored six and Joe Thede scored two.
Juergensen and Berns led in rebounds with eight and seven respectively. Towers and Berns had four steals each.
The win gave the Rockets a sweep for the season. The Rockets won in Churdan 64-34 when the teams met in December.
Saturday night at home the Rockets got caught on the short side of a tight game. The Rockets led the first 22 minutes of play, although the lead was never more than five points. The score was 34-29 at halftime.
With three minutes to play in the third quarter the Rockets were ahead 43-39, but the Bulldogs put up five unanswered points in the next two minutes to have a one point lead, 44-43, with a minute to play in the quarter. The Rockets reclaimed the lead, 47-46, to finish the quarter.
The score was tied at 56 with four minutes to play. Going down the stretch, it was free throws that made the difference. With two minutes to play the Bulldogs were up 59-58. They finished the game with five free throws while the Rockets made just one. The final score was 64-59 for the Bulldogs.
For the game, P-C was 11 of 17 at the free throw line for 64 percent and Boyer Valley was 11 of 15 for 73 percent.
Juergensen scored 35 points and had 11 rebounds. “Noah had a great game, but when we only have five assists I feel like we weren’t playing as well together as we can,” Stimson said. “There were some things that we didn’t do as well as at the first contest.”
The Rockets won the December game in Dunlap 59-49.
Towers scored 11 points, Charlie Minnehan scored six, Jake Berns scored three and Joe Thede and Trevor Bundt scored two each.
The Rockets are now 13-5 overall.
