EUGENE — The Roseburg boys basketball team was unable to cool off Rocco Graziano and the Sheldon Irish in a 79-76 Southwest Conference loss on Tuesday at Rayborn Gym at Sheldon High School.
Graziano drained six 3-point field goals and netted a game-high 27 points to lead the Irish to one of their highest scoring outputs of the season.
“I definitely knew they could shoot, especially at home,” Roseburg coach Jordan Humphreys said. “They haven’t shot that well the last few games just because they haven’t been in the gym that much. But we knew who their shooters were and we clearly did not guard them.”
Roseburg (11-6, 4-2 SWC) jumped out to an 11-2 lead near the midway point of the first quarter, but the Irish would catch fire from there.
Graziano and Eli Forsha scored eight points each in the opening period and led Sheldon (10-8, 3-3) on a 19-6 finish and a four-point lead heading to the second quarter.
The Irish just continued to stretch the lead before halftime. Sheldon held a 17-point advantage multiple times through the period and went to the locker room ahead of Roseburg 47-32.
The Indians amped up the defensive pressure in the second half and managed to close the gap to four points midway through the third quarter, but Sheldon pushed the advantage to 63-54 by the end of the period.
Roseburg continued to put the pressure on in the final quarter, but the Irish always found a way to keep the lead out of reach.
“We just got complacent. We got a little bit of a lead and felt comfortable and played comfortable. We started taking possessions off on defense and on offense,” Humphreys said.
Mykah Mendoza finished with 22 points to lead Roseburg. The senior hit his only 3-pointer of the night just before the final horn to cut the deficit down to just three.
Asher Vredenburg added 19 points, Jullian Lopez had four 3-pointers and contributed 14 points and Owen Bentea chipped in 13 for the Indians.
Sheldon’s Forsha was the only other player in double figures with 18.
The 79 points by Sheldon was well above the team’s season scoring average of 58.9. The total is tied for the most allowed by Roseburg all season.
The Indians will try to regroup with a nonconference road game against Class 5A Churchill on Thursday. Tip off from the Lancer Dome in Eugene is set for 7:30 p.m.
ROSEBURG (76) — Mykah Mendoza 22, Lopez 14, Vredenburg 19, Ash 2, Bentea 13, McCurdy 2, Bosley 2, Luther 2. Totals 27 17-21 76.
SHELDON (79) — Rocco Graziano 27, Parosa 9, Jacobson 2, Sheley 5, Cramer 7, Forsha 18, Alvarado 7, Templeman 3. Totals 28 13-19 79.
Roseburg 17 15 22 22 — 76
Sheldon 21 26 16 16 — 79
3-Point Goals — Rose. 5 (Lopez 4, Mendoza 1), Shel. 10 (Graziano 6, Jacobson 1, Sheley 1, Alvarado 1, Templeman 1). Total Fouls — Rose. 19, Shel. 16. Fouled Out — Sheley.
JV Score — Sheldon 72, Roseburg 44.
