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Defense helps Rockets fend off Rams in nonconference win
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EDGINGTON -- Aside from the fact that it was a nonconference game, Tuesday's boys' basketball matchup with Riverdale had many of the same aspects as Rockridge's West Central North meeting with Orion last Friday. There was the sluggish start combined with a game opponent that battled to keep things close. There was a strong defensive stand in the second half and one big offensive quarter in the final 16 minutes. All of that which carried the Rockets past their league rivals also proved enough to fend off the Rams for a 62-52 victory. "It was the same thing as Orion,'' said Rockridge coach Toby Whiteman, whose 19-2 club needed a 23-6 third-period run last Friday to prevail on the Chargers' home floor. "We started off slowly and allowed them to hang with us. Then, we came out and played well in the third quarter, got up and had a chance to put it away.'' After scoring the third quarter's final four points following a 3-pointer by Riverdale senior guard Jared Richmond that whittled Rockridge's lead to 34-32, the Rockets clamped down defensively to start the final period. In fact, Riverdale (12-11) was unable to attempt a field goal until Drew Beale's bucket at the 4:58 mark. By that time, Rockridge had turned its 4-0 spurt to close the third into a 14-0 run that made it a 48-32 game. The hosts led by as much as 16 points, and the Rams couldn't get back within single digits after that. "We held them to seven points in the third quarter, and that carried over to the fourth,'' said Whiteman, who got four steals each from T.J. Henry and Ethan Happ as his team forced the Rams into 16 turnovers, 12 in the second half. Offensively, Happ delivered another double-double, going for 21 points and 13 rebounds. Sophomore teammate Bryan Heath scored 13 of his 18 points in the first half to help Rockridge to a 29-25 halftime lead. He also had six boards, as did Henry (nine points). Richmond was held in check after averaging 28.5 points over Riverdale's last six games, mustering just 12 points on 4-of-12 shooting. Mitchell Sand stepped up his game in reply with a game-high 22 points along with eight rebounds. Cole Solomon added six boards. "Jared has carried us the last few weeks, and Mitchell had been in a bit of a rut,'' said Riverdale coach Jason Hendrix. "To see him catch the ball off the dribble and shoot, that was good to see. That was what stuck out for me.'' What also stuck out for Hendrix was the way his Rams competed with Class 2A's fourth-ranked club. Riverdale took its only lead late in the first period at 12-11 before a Henry bucket put the hosts up 13-12 after one. And after Rockridge went up 17-12 early in the second, the Rams fought back to tie the game three times before the Rockets closed the first half with a 6-2 run. "That string of games when we were 2-8, we weren't working together,'' he said. "We've been playing better, and we know if we played well (Tuesday), we could stay with them. We played with them, except for that five-minute stretch in the second half where they outscored us 18-2. To go in and go toe to toe with them, I told the guys to take confidence from that.'' 
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Today is Thursday, May 23, the 143rd day of 2013. There are 222 days left in the year.
1863 — 150 years ago: Messrs. J. and M. Rosenfield have moved their leather and hidestore to the building formerly occupied by Temple Bufords's store. They buy and sellhides, pelts, furs, wool, beeswax, lard, tallow, etc.
1888 -- 125 years ago: The Rock Island Lumber Company has recovered 5,000 of the8,000 logs that were carried away by the Mississippi River flood last week.
1913 -- 100 years ago: John J. Ullemeyer has been awarded the contract to furnish RockIsland fire and police department members with uniforms, at the city's expense.
1938 -- 75 years ago: Work on Aledo's new $38,000 swimming pool was started thismorning at South Park when ground for the pool was broken by Mayor John W. Murphy.
1963 -- 50 years ago: Students and teacher at Moline High School called today "MissLeona Day" day at the school in honor of the government teacher who retires at theend of the school term. Although she's been teaching for 43 years at the school, Miss Dayfound a new way of arriving at the school this morning. At 7:30 a.m., a police squad carpulled up in front of Miss Day's home and escorted her to school. A caravan of students' cars joined the procession along the way.
1988 -- 25 years ago: Barbecue cooking and riverfront antics are planned for Discover the
River Day Saturday in Leach Park, Bettendorf. A 5K run, wind surfing, a canoe race, hogcalling and more will round out the day under the Interstate 74 bridge.
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