Rockets start new year with win
JASON LAWRENCE/DAILY FORUM
Senior Ryan Evans fires a jump shot during West Nodaway’s 72-53 victory over South Page (Iowa) Monday night.
Depth was already an issue for West Nodaway boys basketball coach Roger Johnson after a pair of summer transfers out of district. Now that depth will be tested further after a couple players were sidelined over winter break.
“It was nice to get this game in right now and get some rust out,” Johnson said. “We’re getting used to some different lineups. We got to play some different situational things, so I thought the kids really from that perspective started pretty well. It took them a little while to get used to people in different spots.”
The Rockets, however, kicked off 2015 with a 72-53 win over South Page (Iowa) Monday night.
It got off to a rocky start before West Nodaway pulled away in the second half.
Senior guard Ryan Evans had the hot hand early as the Rockets forced the Rebels into turnovers out of the full-court press. Evans scored seven points in the first quarter to help the Rockets to a 15-9 advantage.
“I started off pretty good and got some good passes from my teammates,” Evans said.
“I feel like there’s more (responsibility) for all of us just to keep going. We’ve got to get better and better since we keep losing players.”
Evans built on the first quarter with eight more points in the second period, getting to the basket for layups seemingly at will, a new found aggressiveness that he said has come out of necessity and experience. His coach is also pleased with the senior guards assertiveness.
“He did an excellent job, especially early. He really went to the bucket well,” Johnson said. “He has done it all year. He’s done a much better job this year of doing that and that’s going to be really important for us from now on especially.”
Evans went into distributor mode in the second half, as the Rockets started to exploit the Rebels’ zone defense by running senior guard Trevor Meyer along the baseline to get him touches in the post.
“It’s something we’ll probably do from time-to-time the rest of this year,” Johnson said. “We actually experimented with that over the summer, and hadn’t had to go to it. Trevor does a nice job, he’s aggressive inside.”
Meyer scored 10 points in the third quarter as the Rockets pushed their lead to 53-39. A balanced fourth quarter, which saw 14 points from Meyer and junior forward Blake Farnan — almost exclusively in the post — helped West Nodaway improve to 8-2 on the season.
“Second half, I stopped shooting threes and pull-up jumpers and got to the block more where I could post up and finish,” Meyer said. “My shot was kinda off tonight in the first half and I got it back together in the second.”
Meyer finished with 22 points while Evans and Farnan each added 20, something Johnson said will be a luxury going forward with the depleted lineup.
“It’s going to be real critical for us. We’ve got some pretty good balance between those three, then we’ve got some good role players,” Johnson said. “I think they’ll continue to get better. Those role players always tend to step up if you ask them to do something they’re comfortable with. Hopefully we can put them in the right spots so they can be successful.”
The Rockets are back in action at 7:30 p.m. Friday, hosting South Holt following the conclusion of the girls’ game. Then, they travel to Fairfax next week where they are the top-ranked team in the 83rd annual Fairfax Basketball Tournament.
“We’ve just got to get everyone used to playing together now again,” Meyer said. “The tournament’s going to be a big deal. We’re coming in at No. 1, so hopefully we can stay there.”
JASON LAWRENCE/DAILY FORUM
West Nodaway senior guard Trevor Meyer rises for a layup Monday night during the Rockets’ 72-53 home win over South Page (Iowa.)
