HMS splits with Rockwood

Rockwood Middle School took the floor Tuesday night against cross-county rival Harriman.  

The Lady Tigers played good overall defense and shut down Harriman’s Jada Johnson on their way to a 24-18 victory 

The boys took the floor next in a game that turned out to be a barn burner. Rockwood and Harriman’s big men battled all night on the glass, but  Harriman rallied late to pick up a 34-33 victory

Girls Game

Harriman won the opening tip and that was about all the excitement for the first quarter as neither team could get anything rolling on offense.  

With less than one minute left to play in the opening quarter Rockwood’s Lexie Hill hit a three-pointer and added a put-back on Rockwood’s ensuing possession.

Rockwood started the second quarter playing good basketball, but could not get any shots to fall.  

Midway through the second quarter, Harriman’s ball control and defense picked up as they tied the game at eight. 

Late in the period, Megan Monday came up with a steal and a quick two at the other end of the floor to close out the first half with Rockwood leading 12-9.

Rockwood’s defense stepped up in the early in the third quarter, as they stretched the lead to 17-11.  

Harriman and their big post Jada Johnson just could not get anything thing going, due to Zoie Hill and Tatum Golliher shutting down the paint. 

Rockwood outscored the Lady Devils 10-3 in the third to take a 22-12 lead into the fourth quarter.  

Rockwood continued the hot shooting in the fourth while the Lady Devils had some good looks around the rim, but could not finish as the Lady Tigers won the game by a final score of 28-17.

Lexie Hill led Rockwood on the night with 15 points and nine rebounds. 

Katie Hall scored seven points for Harriman while Johnson added five points and nine boards.

Harriman (17) Johnson 5, Hall 7, Pack 1, Crass 4.

Rockwood (28) L. Hill 15, Evans 3, Monday 2, Z. Hill 4, Tilley 2, Ferrell 2.

Boys Game

Both teams started out slow until Rockwood’s Josh Neerman came on strong down the stretch with six points and working hard on the glass to put Rockwood up 12-6 going into the second quarter.  

Rockwood started out the second quarter playing some sloppy basketball, allowing Harriman to close the gap to three points then Harriman’s Eli Duncan hit a big three-pointer to tie the game at 15 going into halftime.

The Tigers came out in the third quarter playing good defense and shooting well from outside. Jackson Hicks hit two three-pointers in the period to push the lead.  Rockwood outscored the Blue Devils 12-3 in the frame, giving them their biggest lead of the game.  

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Tigers and Blue Devils traded points back and forth.  

Midway through the final period, however, Harriman stepped up on defense and went on an 8-0 run to close gap to just one point with 1:24 left in the game.  

With 20 seconds left in the game, Duncan misses a jump shot and Rockwood grabbed a huge rebound for the Tigers. Harriman then committed an intentional foul, but caught a break when Rockwood missed both free throws.

On the ensuing possession, Rockwood turned the ball over, giving Harriman one last shot.

With time running out Isaiah McClain drove the lane and missed the jump shot, but Hunter Clark came up with the rebound and the put-back to put Harriman up 34-33 with 1.5 seconds left.  

Rockwood got the ball, but did not have enough time to put a shot up as Harriman won the thriller, 34-33.

John Johnson led Harriman on the night with 15 points and nine rebounds.

Hicks led Rockwood with nine points while Ryan McCain (8 points, 9 rebounds) and Neerman (7 points, 7 rebounds) also put up solid numbers for the Tigers.

Both teams will be in action on Monday as Harriman hosts Lenoir City while Rockwood travels to Fort Loudon.

Harriman (34) Johnson 15, Clark 2, Duncan 3, Haynes 4, McClain 4, Phipps 4, Jenkins 2. 

 Rockwood (33) McCain 8, Neerman 7, Nuckols 4, Campbell 5, Hicks 9.