The RBHS boys basketball team played at home tonight against the Southwest High School Indians. With a record of 1-1, the boys were motivated to push through for their third match-up and win again. The JV team set the tone for the night by bringing in their sixth consecutive victory, which was incentive for varsity to follow in their footsteps. The Varsity boys brought home a win of 73-43 by the end of the evening.
The boys went into this game headstrong in the first quarter and took a lead of 15-2. The players were quick and precise, ready to snatch up a second victory. By the start of the second quarter, they had a 13 point lead of 23-10. The Indians proved to be easy competition for the Bruins, who kept their lead for the entire first half. By halftime, the score was still in favor of RBHS, 40-16.
Jackson Dubinski, point guard for the Bruins varsity team, said that this pair up against Southwest was a great improvement from the team’s previous game on Saturday, Dec. 1, against Christian Brothers College High School. That game was the first loss of the season for the Bruins’ varsity team, with a final score of 42-58 in favor of CBC.
“I thought we played much better tonight than we did in comparison to Saturday night,” Dubinski said. “We got out to an early lead by creating some turnovers on defense and turning them into points on the other end.”
The game rolled on into the second half and seemed to continue along the same pattern. The point difference between the two teams didn’t change much, and Bruins were getting closer and closer to a win. By the end of the third quarter, the score was 63-25 with RBHS still leading. The point difference fluctuated during the fourth quarter however.
Starting off the final quarter, the Bruins lost their 38 point lead as the Indians pushed harder. Southwest scored 12 points while RBHS remained nonscoring, and the Indians inched up to a 63-37 gain. But, in the end, the Bruins received the win they had worked so hard for. The final score was 75-43, Bruins.
Though the game ended well for RBHS, there is still a lot of improvements the team can make, according to Dubinski. The team is preparing themselves for an intense rivalry game at Hickman next week, Dec. 11 at 7:30 p.m.
“I think we’re starting to come together as a team better and that will translate to better play in our next games,” Dubinski said. “Obviously you can always play better, but tonight we did what we needed to do and now we just need to get a good week of practice in and get ready for Hickman [on] Tuesday.”
By Brittany Cornelison
[nggallery id=217] Photos by Patrick Smith