Roseburg boys hold off Grants Pass for 48-46 SWC victory
The Roseburg boys basketball team held off a late rally by the Grants Pass Cavemen for a 48-46 victory and its first Southwest Conference win on Tuesday at Robertson Memorial Gymnasium.
The Cavemen burst out to a 13-4 advantage in the opening period, but the Indians used a 9-4 run to close out the quarter and draw back within 17-13.
Roseburg (5-11, 1-2 SWC) fought its way back to tie the game twice in the second period and finally regained the lead on a short jumper by Jaron Leeworthy with 2:09 left in the first half.
The Indians built the lead to 27-22 at halftime by outscoring the Cavemen 14-5 in the second quarter.
“We got a little bit more physical and did a good job of picking up shooters,” Roseburg coach Jordan Humphreys said about the Tribe’s improved defense before half.
Grants Pass (5-11, 1-3) got back in the game thanks to 14 points from Jordan Rossetta in the third quarter. The sophomore finished with a game-high 22 points.
The contest remained close throughout the second half. Both teams rallied to take an advantage.
Grants Pass freshman James Traylor hit the first of two free throws to tie the game at 46-all with 1:24 left in regulation, but missed the second attempt and the opportunity to give the Cavemen the lead.
Owen Bentea netted the final two of his team-high 16 points with 30 seconds remaining to put Roseburg ahead 48-46, but left plenty of time for the Cavers to tie or take the lead.
Grants Pass, which made just 3-of-8 free throw attempts, had a chance to tie at the charity stripe with 6.6 seconds left. Rossetta missed the front-end and intentionally missed the second.
The rebound went out of bounds to the Cavemen. Grants Pass got the ball to Zach DeChenne who drove to the rim, but had his shot knocked away and the Indians prevailed.
Humphreys shared what he told the team ahead of the final defensive stop.
“We need one stop right here and this is why you work so hard in practice,” Humphreys said. “We had a good rotation on it out of Owen (Bentea) and Kaden (Luther) to go to the ball and make sure he didn’t have an easy one.”
Bentea led the Indians in scoring, but faced a double team much of the night. Humphreys said the team prepared for seeing a defensive scheme like that.
“We could have been better at it, but it was nice to see it and see that Owen did a good job of trusting his teammates and it ended up working out okay,” Humphreys explained.
Luther added 12 points and Landon Fanugao chipped in nine.
The win was Roseburg’s second consecutive. The Indians will try to get a mini win streak going when they visit the Sheldon Irish at 6:45 p.m. on Thursday in Eugene.
GRANTS PASS (46) — Jordan Rossetta 22, DeChenne 6, Berg, Connelly, McKittrick 3, Traylor 3, Hart 12. Totals 19 3-8 46.
ROSEBURG (48) — Owen Bentea 16, Leeworthy 4, Fanugao 9, Scott 5, Frable, Luther 12, Kemmerle 2. Totals 18 9-14 48.
Grants Pass;17;5;14;10;—;46
Roseburg;13;14;8;13;—;48
3-Point Goals — G.P. 5 (Hart 4, McKittrick 1), Rose. 3 (Fanugao 1, Scott 1, Bentea 1). Total Fouls — G.P. 17, Rose. 8. Technical Fouls — Connelly. Fouled Out — Berg.
