Sunday 2/16/14 - 2:30pm at West Valley HS
This game promises to be a good one. We've talking about 2 teams with a lot of motivation.
The Chargers are sure to come out from the opening tip with a sense of urgency after losing both their match ups with the Rockets this year.
The Rockets are well aware of this and plan to match that intensity; but even more important to the Rockets - these boys have a burning desire to finish this season as Spokane's 5th Grade boys champions.
I can't wait!!!
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Rockets dominate Lightz Out on way to Championship showdown with the Chargers
The Rocket boys knew this semi-final matchup again one of their biggest rivals was going to be a tough game. Lightz Out has had some success against the Rockets this season, by using the same formula we've been using all year - a nice mix of guard and big play. That said, our Rockets came out and played some inspired, suffocating team defense - a trend that has been forming over these last couple of weeks - to earn a hard fought 41-25 victory and a spot in the league championship game.
A couple of things stood out in this game. First, The Rockets made Lightz Out take nothing but tough contested shots for the most part and then battled to a draw on the glass. We also took care of the ball - only turning the ball over 8 times while snagging 17 steals of our own - 6 by Kobe Simpson, 5 by Griffin Jacobs and 4 by Eckahelo Simpson.
It must be pointed out how great a job Griffin and Antonio DeFelice did at picking up full-court and harrassing the other teams guards. Antonio's efforts only got him 1 steal, but his hard work was noticed.
Player of the Game: Griffin Jacobs - 11 pts, 3 rebs, 5 steals, 1 asst and 3-3 at the charity stripe
Spokane Rockets v. Lightz Out - Semifinals Game
A couple of things stood out in this game. First, The Rockets made Lightz Out take nothing but tough contested shots for the most part and then battled to a draw on the glass. We also took care of the ball - only turning the ball over 8 times while snagging 17 steals of our own - 6 by Kobe Simpson, 5 by Griffin Jacobs and 4 by Eckahelo Simpson.
It must be pointed out how great a job Griffin and Antonio DeFelice did at picking up full-court and harrassing the other teams guards. Antonio's efforts only got him 1 steal, but his hard work was noticed.
Player of the Game: Griffin Jacobs - 11 pts, 3 rebs, 5 steals, 1 asst and 3-3 at the charity stripe
Spokane Rockets v. Lightz Out - Semifinals Game
Saturday, February 8, 2014
Rockets roll into the Semi's!!
The Rockets opened up the playoffs with a route.
The boys gave up the first basket of the game to go down 0-2. After that basket the boys put the pedal down and didn't let up until Eckahelo Simpson ripped his 3rd 3-pt basket in 3 attempts to close out the 1st half up 39-4.
Our guards dominated the first half with the ball pressure, speed and passing - led by Eckahlo, Darric Blockman, Kobe Simpson, Antonio DeFelice and Griffin Jacobs.
The bigs got involed in the 2nd half with Jace Parbon, Jack Doerschlag, Van Ricker and Aidan Kelly stepping up to close the game out.
Player of the Game: Eckahelo Simpson - 19 pts, 12 reb, 7 assts, 6 steals and 2 blks (3-3 from 3-pt land!!)
Spokane Rockets v. Flight - 1st Round of Playoffs
The boys gave up the first basket of the game to go down 0-2. After that basket the boys put the pedal down and didn't let up until Eckahelo Simpson ripped his 3rd 3-pt basket in 3 attempts to close out the 1st half up 39-4.
Our guards dominated the first half with the ball pressure, speed and passing - led by Eckahlo, Darric Blockman, Kobe Simpson, Antonio DeFelice and Griffin Jacobs.
The bigs got involed in the 2nd half with Jace Parbon, Jack Doerschlag, Van Ricker and Aidan Kelly stepping up to close the game out.
Player of the Game: Eckahelo Simpson - 19 pts, 12 reb, 7 assts, 6 steals and 2 blks (3-3 from 3-pt land!!)
Spokane Rockets v. Flight - 1st Round of Playoffs
Rockets blast Chargers to claim regular season crown
The Spokane Rockets wanted to send a message to the rest of the Spokane AAU league and they did in a big way in handling a very tough Chargers team 45-31.
The Rockets jumped on the Chargers from the opening tip with Jace Parbon scoring a quick 6pts to start the game. They held a 20-8 halftime lead, and never let the Charger claw back into this one.
The Rockets won this game for two reasons - they played great team defense, holding the ultra-quick, high-scoring Chargers well below their season average; and they took care of the basketball - only turning the ball over 8 times (and not a single one from any of the kids off the bench!!).
Statement made - now its time to finish the job in the playoffs!!
Player of the Game: Eckahelo Simpson - 13 pts, 19 reb, 5 asst
Spokane Rockets v. Chargers
The Rockets jumped on the Chargers from the opening tip with Jace Parbon scoring a quick 6pts to start the game. They held a 20-8 halftime lead, and never let the Charger claw back into this one.
The Rockets won this game for two reasons - they played great team defense, holding the ultra-quick, high-scoring Chargers well below their season average; and they took care of the basketball - only turning the ball over 8 times (and not a single one from any of the kids off the bench!!).
Statement made - now its time to finish the job in the playoffs!!
Player of the Game: Eckahelo Simpson - 13 pts, 19 reb, 5 asst
Spokane Rockets v. Chargers
Rockets Jump on Bears early and put game away
The Rockets came out like champions and put it to the CV Bears from the opening tip; by the time the gas peddle was let off a bit, it was 20-4.
The Rockets were also moving the ball quite well today, assisting on 13 of 19 baskets - Kobe & Eckahelo Simpson lead the way with 4 assists each, and Darric Blockman had 3.
The Rockets are 7-1 in league and face off against rival, the Chargers next week. The Chargers are undefeated and sit atop the Midwest division. If we win, we win the Pacific division and get the #1 seed heading into playoffs; if we lose, we likely end up as the #3 seed.
Player of the Game: Eckahelo Simpson - 13 pts, 15 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 1 block
Rockets v. CV Bears
The Rockets were also moving the ball quite well today, assisting on 13 of 19 baskets - Kobe & Eckahelo Simpson lead the way with 4 assists each, and Darric Blockman had 3.
The Rockets are 7-1 in league and face off against rival, the Chargers next week. The Chargers are undefeated and sit atop the Midwest division. If we win, we win the Pacific division and get the #1 seed heading into playoffs; if we lose, we likely end up as the #3 seed.
Player of the Game: Eckahelo Simpson - 13 pts, 15 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 1 block
Rockets v. CV Bears
Saturday, January 11, 2014
Lightz Out - 41 Spokane Rockets - 40
The boys lost a heart-breaker today to a game Lightz Out squad, 41-40. This is their first loss in league and drops their record to 6-1.
I could write multiple paragraphs about the refereeing, but you were there. You saw. Nothing more needs to be said.
The Rocket had chances to win this game, but continued to struggle with team rebounding (only Jace and Eckahelo had more than 2 rebounds), Free Throw shooting (6-24) and turnovers (29).
Darric Blockman and Eckahelo Simpson were both terrors in the passing lanes today, each coming up with 5 steals.
The Rockets still control their own destiny in their march to a league championship, but must rebound quickly as they face two more tough teams to end the regular season - The CV Bears and The Chargers.
Player of the Game: Jace Parbon - 9 pts, 14 reb, 2 steals and 1 assist
I could write multiple paragraphs about the refereeing, but you were there. You saw. Nothing more needs to be said.
The Rocket had chances to win this game, but continued to struggle with team rebounding (only Jace and Eckahelo had more than 2 rebounds), Free Throw shooting (6-24) and turnovers (29).
Darric Blockman and Eckahelo Simpson were both terrors in the passing lanes today, each coming up with 5 steals.
The Rockets still control their own destiny in their march to a league championship, but must rebound quickly as they face two more tough teams to end the regular season - The CV Bears and The Chargers.
Player of the Game: Jace Parbon - 9 pts, 14 reb, 2 steals and 1 assist
Saturday, January 4, 2014
Rockets - 40 Hormel Law Bears - 24
The boys began the 2nd half of the Spokane AAU league season with a semi - convincing win against an over-matched Hormel Law Bears team.
The boys struggled all game from the field, only hitting 28% of their attempts, but you wouldn't have known this if you only watched the 1st quarter. The Rockets came out and smothered the Bears with their press. Jace Parbon, Echahelo Simpson and Kobe Simpson each had 2 steals in the opening stanza that led to easy buckets and a big 16-2 lead.
The Bears managed to play us almost even the rest of the way (24-22), which can be mostly attributed to our poor conversion rate from the field and, aside from Echahelo, a general lack of team rebounding. The Rockets received some strong play down the stretch from our bench - Riley Savage (5 rebounds), Griffin Jacobs (3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 block) and Antonio DeFelice (3 points, 3 rebounds) led the way.
The boys are now 6 - 0 in league and control their own destiny on their way to wrapping up the Pacific Divisions #1 seed heading into the playoffs. We finish the year with three tough games against Lightz Out, the CV Bears and the Chargers (we are 4-1 against this group this season but all have been tough games).
We're going to find out a lot about our Rockets over these next 3-4 weeks!!
Player of the Game: Eckahelo Simpson - 9 pts, 17 reb, 3 ast, 3 stls, 0 TO's
Rockets v. Hormel Bears
The boys struggled all game from the field, only hitting 28% of their attempts, but you wouldn't have known this if you only watched the 1st quarter. The Rockets came out and smothered the Bears with their press. Jace Parbon, Echahelo Simpson and Kobe Simpson each had 2 steals in the opening stanza that led to easy buckets and a big 16-2 lead.
The Bears managed to play us almost even the rest of the way (24-22), which can be mostly attributed to our poor conversion rate from the field and, aside from Echahelo, a general lack of team rebounding. The Rockets received some strong play down the stretch from our bench - Riley Savage (5 rebounds), Griffin Jacobs (3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 block) and Antonio DeFelice (3 points, 3 rebounds) led the way.
The boys are now 6 - 0 in league and control their own destiny on their way to wrapping up the Pacific Divisions #1 seed heading into the playoffs. We finish the year with three tough games against Lightz Out, the CV Bears and the Chargers (we are 4-1 against this group this season but all have been tough games).
We're going to find out a lot about our Rockets over these next 3-4 weeks!!
Player of the Game: Eckahelo Simpson - 9 pts, 17 reb, 3 ast, 3 stls, 0 TO's
Rockets v. Hormel Bears
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
2013 -2014 1st Half Recap
The first half of the 2013-2014 AAU basketball season has seen a new group of boys come together as a bunch of individuals and slowly begin to gel as a TEAM.
The boys have played in 3 tournaments so far and this process of becoming a team has been evident in the up and down play that we have witnessed on our way to a 6-6 tournament record. For every nice win we have (the 32-30 come back win over the Chargers comes to mind) we've got a couple of head-scratchers (losing poorly played games to Lightz Out and Shockwave). Then again sometimes the loses aren't a result of learning each other, but just making free throws. -- (lost by 6 to Who Has it Magic while going 9-33 at the stripe & losing to Northside Snipers by 5 while going 9-27; ouch!!)
Our up and down play in tournaments hasn't carried over to our league play where our Rockets enter the 2nd half of the season with a perfect 5-0 record and on top of the Pacific Division. Our perfect record includes solid wins over Pacific Division rivals, the Vipers and the Northside Snipers.
The boys and their coaches are working hard to keep that perfect record going in league and to develop some consistency in tournament play. We are chasing a league championship and a state qualifying finish in our next tournament. We believe the boys can do it.
We'll see you at the gym......Go Rockets!!!
P.S. - look for individual game recaps coming soon.....
The boys have played in 3 tournaments so far and this process of becoming a team has been evident in the up and down play that we have witnessed on our way to a 6-6 tournament record. For every nice win we have (the 32-30 come back win over the Chargers comes to mind) we've got a couple of head-scratchers (losing poorly played games to Lightz Out and Shockwave). Then again sometimes the loses aren't a result of learning each other, but just making free throws. -- (lost by 6 to Who Has it Magic while going 9-33 at the stripe & losing to Northside Snipers by 5 while going 9-27; ouch!!)
Our up and down play in tournaments hasn't carried over to our league play where our Rockets enter the 2nd half of the season with a perfect 5-0 record and on top of the Pacific Division. Our perfect record includes solid wins over Pacific Division rivals, the Vipers and the Northside Snipers.
The boys and their coaches are working hard to keep that perfect record going in league and to develop some consistency in tournament play. We are chasing a league championship and a state qualifying finish in our next tournament. We believe the boys can do it.
We'll see you at the gym......Go Rockets!!!
P.S. - look for individual game recaps coming soon.....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)