Web posted
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Rock, AC boys escape with 52-50 win
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Photo by Donita Clausen
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By DAVID WOLMAN
Traveler Sports Editor
sports@arkcity.net
The final stages of Tuesday night's game had the making of a letdown by Arkansas City.
A double-digit lead by the Bulldogs in the first half evaporated. Seven fourth-quarter turnovers allowed Winfield to sporadically chip away at Ark City's lead. And the Vikings had a chance to win on the game's final possession.
But Tayler Rock allowed the Bulldogs to breathe a sigh of relief.
Rock made amends after committing an offensive foul by recording a steal, converting two free throws and snagging a defensive rebound off a missed free throw by Kyle Watson with under a minute left in the fourth quarter.
Ark City's student section rushed the court after Kevin Meyer's last-second jumper bounced off the side of the rim, allowing the Bulldogs to celebrate and escape with a 52-50 win last night.
"We're very fortunate to win," Ark City coach Ben Proctor said.
Proctor was glad to see his team be on the winning side of a dramatic game after falling to Newton 48-47 on Jan. 8 on a buzzer-beating basket by Jake Reinhart.
"It just seemed like flashbacks to the Newton game a little bit," Proctor said. "It was good to see it not go in (last second shot attempt) this time. It was a good feeling."
The Bulldogs appeared poised to run away with Tuesday's game.
They used their athleticism to their advantage to try to run Winfield out of the building after building an early double-digit lead.
Ryan Rohrs hit three three-pointers in the first quarter and Jordan Fields hit a jumper in transition for a 21-10 Bulldogs lead just 32 seconds into the second quarter.
Rohrs scored nine of his 11 points in the first quarter.
"We started off the game pretty well," Proctor said. "Once again, we have to maintain that (intensity). That's a little handicap, sometimes (for us)."
But Ark City appeared to get too comfortable with its lead, as it became lackadaisical on both ends. It threw an inbounds pass directly to Meyer for a layup and gave up three layups and two three-pointers in the second quarter. Winfield scored 15 straight points to take its first lead of the game, 22-21, on a Meyer layup midway through the second quarter.
Meyer scored eight of his game-high 16 points in the first half.
But Fields looked to put on a show in last regular season game against Winfield, scoring eight of his 15 points over a span of 1 minute, 37 seconds in the second quarter, to regain the lead for Ark City. Fields connected on two three-pointers and a right-handed floater during that stretch. Ark City led 31-27 at halftime.
Both teams found their mark behind the arc in the first half, combining for eight three-pointers.
After holding a six-point lead early in the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs again couldn't pull away from the Vikings.
Following a span of sloppy play by both teams midway through the fourth, Winfield made the Bulldogs pay for not closing out the win earlier.
After a made free throw by Taylor Archer, Jacob Love hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 50 with 1:36 remaining.
But Rock made the key plays to secure the win for Ark City (8-7).
Rock came alive in the second half, scoring 11 of his 13 points, in addition to seven rebounds. He was lifted by Ark City's student section in the middle of the court moments after the win.
"Winfield played pretty well," Proctor said. "I thought they outworked us a little bit. I thought that our home court crowd really helped us tonight."
Winfield 10 17 15 8 -- 50
Ark City 19 12 14 7 -- 52
Winfield -- Meyer 16, Moore 9, Love 8, Watson 6, Bannister 5, Hoover 4, Taylor 2.
Ark City -- Fields 15, Rock 13, Rohrs 11, Miller 6, Harris 4, Harris 3.
Above: Arkansas City senior Ryan Rohrs, left, tries to secure a loose ball from Winfield's Benedikt Stratmann, while John Miller, background, observes during Tuesday night's 52-50 win over the Vikings.
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