If you’re a fan of defensive basketball, you’re going to love what happened in Saturday’s Region 5-AAA quarterfinal game between the Rossview Hawks and Station Camp Bison.
The two teams had met earlier in the 2020-21 regular season with SCHS winning in overtime, but both squads knew that Saturday was going to be a different game. They had each fleshed out their games, had new players in the rotation and, above all else, it was a playoff game.
They also knew that whoever was more aggressive and more physical on defense would win.
Advantage: Station Camp. The visitors walked away with a gritty 36-29 victory to advance to their second straight region semifinal game.
It was clear from the beginning that defense was going to be king. Each squad showed clear respect for the other, with no one player getting any more breathing room on offense than another. Clear looks were premium, and in retrospect, a 9-9 tie at the first quarter ended up being the second-highest scoring period of the evening.
The Bison took their first big lead in the second when Eli Rice and Kheller Die’ hit back-to-back threes to go up 15-9, which eventually became an 18-13 halftime advantage.
Rossview outscored Station Camp in the third quarter, but it was far from enough – they tacked on five points to the Bison’s three. They took momentum into the final period after Ronald Jessamy spiked Rice’s buzzer beater attempt into the wood, but SCHS nearly doubled their output in the fourth with 15 points – seven of which came from the free throw line.
“It was like a chess match tonight,” said RHS head coach Johnny Jackson. “They didn’t know what to run, we didn’t know what to run. They pressured us like nobody’s pressured us. They were physical with us like nobody’s been physical with us. That size advantage, it was a hell of a game, but we couldn’t make any shots.”
The difference ended up being Rice and Die’. The duo were the only players in the game to score in double-figures, combining for as many points as their opponents as a whole – 29.
“It was our philosophy with the ball,” Die’ said. “We had open looks. We just drove into the creases and kicked out. I just hit the shots… We were better offensively than they were defensively.”
That’s truly what set the Bison apart from the Hawks – hitting shots. Their possessions were slow and methodical, only making attempts until they were sure it was the look they wanted. Rossview’s game was quicker, and they managed to get more quality looks. The problem is that they shot 29% on two-pointers and 22% on threes.
That was largely in part to Station Camp’s suffocating defense, but it didn’t help that senior guard Tim Williams missed time with a hyperextended knee suffered midway through the game. He eventually came back but clearly wasn’t at full strength and finished the game scoreless. On top of that, Rossview was missing guards Messiah and Cam Ward due to family reasons.
The Hawks turned to 6-foot-7 sophomore center Ronald Jessamy for a bulk of their offensive possessions. He finished with a team-high eight points, but Die’ and forward Isaiah Davis made sure he wasn’t able to get clean looks at the rim for most of the night.
“I felt like even the defense was good and the second shot defense was good even if we didn’t get the rebound and we had to contest a second shot by them,” said SCHS head coach Seth Massey. “I felt like we challenged (him) at the rim. We challenged every shot. Even when we got in bad situations, when (Jessamy) got the ball inside, we were still able to challenge the shot and come away with some big rebounds.”
The loss ends the Hawks’ season, but Jackson and the entire team have plenty to look back on – they went to their first-ever District 10-AAA championship, coming just one overtime period away from winning it, and competed in their first home region game.
“This was a tough year,” Jackson said. “This was one of the hardest years I’ve had to coach. Going from being a nurse and taking temperatures all the time and checking and making sure everybody’s wearing a mask and washing their hands. It took a lot away from the kids getting it. We didn’t have a team camp in the summer, we didn’t get to preseason scrimmage and were still resilient, still battled.
“I’m so proud of them.”
Station Camp will continue their quest for a region title on Tuesday against the Beech Buccaneers, who defeated Henry County by one point on Saturday. The Bison went 0-2 against their district rivals this season.
“We’re coming for revenge,” Die’ said. “We lost a couple times that we think we should have won. I think we’re mentally and physically prepared and we’re coming for revenge for sure.”
BOX SCORE
Station Camp (36): Kheller Die’ 15, Eli Rice 14, Tyler Moore 5, Isaiah Davis 4.
Rossview (29): Ronald Jessamy 8, Ty Butler 6, Bryant Rippy 5, Eli Colvin 5, Spencer Mimms 5.
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