RC Boys Defeat SR In Opener
With a strong all-around effort, the Rockbridge County High School boys basketball team opened the season with a 61-51 road win over Staunton River on Thursday night in Moneta.
It was the first victory for RC since late December of last year, as the Wildcats broke a 15-game losing streak. RC won just one game last year, going 1-22.
After a sloppy start, the Wildcats did a better job of taking care of the basketball, limiting turnovers, and played well in the half-court defense, forcing the Golden Eagles (0-3) to shoot 3-pointers. SR made five 3-pointers in the game, hitting just two in the second half. The Wildcats made seven 3-pointers on the night.
The game was tied in the first quarter before the Wildcats picked up their level of play, going up by as many as 10 points later in the game. They had a sloppy start to the fourth quarter, but finished the game well.
Bradi Ziegler led the Wildcats with 21 points, sinking three 3-pointers, while Brayden Camden scored a career-high 20 points. In his first varsity game, sophomore Fisher Newhall scored nine points for RC. Jaxon Johnson led the Wildcats with seven rebounds and chipped in three points, while Jakob Bailey contributed five points.
Elijah Hawkins led the Golden Eagles with 25 points.
Going over the Wildcats’ debut, RC head coach Rob Winfield said, “It’s definitely a work in progress. We had one guy [Ziegler] that played major consistent varsity minutes last year.” Winfield noted that Camden and Christian Moore played some varsity minutes last year and will be expected to be regular contributors this year.
RC was scheduled to start Shenandoah District action at Staunton last night. The Wildcats will play host to Eastern Montgomery on Thursday and will continue district play with home games against Waynesboro on Friday and against Stuarts Draft on Tuesday, starting with JV action at 6 p.m. all three nights.
