Roxana slips by tough Carrollton team 56-48
ROXANA - Chances are given in every basketball game to succeed.
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Against the Carrollton Hawks, Roxana's Chance Foss took every chance he could to attack the basket whenever the likes of Trace Gentry, Zach Golenor, or Blake Vandiver were all being closed down.
“I’m usually distributing, but when (Carrollton) scouts us well and they guard our shooters it’s time to drive to the lane and get some buckets,” Foss said.
The Shells toppled the Hawks 56-48 in Roxana on Friday night to go 5-1, which is their best start to a season since the 2012-13 season.
That is also the last time they’ve defeated Carrollton until last night.
“We knew these guys were good coming in, we had to play our best,” Foss said. “They’re a good team and it sets the stage for the rest of the season.”
“I give all the credit to Roxana they came to play,” Carrollton head coach Jeff Krumwiede said. “They were in control of this game from the time their band played in the warm-ups and the national anthem.”
Gentry led the Shells with 17 points, two below his 19-point average, but Foss added 14 points, when he came in averaging three per game.
“What happened when we started taking away Gentry was the other guys started stepping up and making plays,” Krumwiede said. “I tip my cap to them.”
Cole Brannan had a career high and led all scorers with 19 points.
Luke Gillingham followed closely with 16.
Carrollton burst out to a 12-5 lead, but Roxana went on a 15-2 run to take a 20-14 advantage after the first quarter.
At halftime the Shells led 32-25 and got an all-important and-one by Foss with seconds to go.
Roxana’s biggest lead of the game came in the third quarter when they led 40-28, but Carrollton would get back in it early in the next term.
The Hawks went on a 6-0 run to cut the Shells lead to 44-39 and forced three straight turnovers.
However Roxana would get a couple more crucial buckets to weather the storm.
Then with 2:40 to play, Foss was called for a blocking foul on Jeremy Watson, which was his fifth and final one.
Foss was then issued a technical foul after showing visible frustration.
“I have to control my temper and I let things get out of hand,” Foss said. The ref made a call and there’s nothing I could do about it.”
Gillingham shot four free throws, made three, and the Hawks got the ball back down by seven.
However they couldn’t get any closer from there on out.
“They responded well to that,” Krumwiede said. “When the free-throw shooting was over with they picked up their intensity again and made it just as difficult for us.”
The Shells caught a break on the following possession where Cody McMillen dove for a loose ball and was called for travelling, but the official from the other end of the court granted him a timeout.
Roxana took advantage of the timeout and scored on a pull-up jumper form Gentry and eventually rode out the victory from the free-throw line.
“We had a great week of practice and we executed and we got a big win,” Foss said.
Coach Krumwiede has a positive outlook for the Hawks and uses this loss as a learning experience and is aware of the tough obstacles ahead for the rest of the month of December.
“Our schedule’s tough on the road and I said to everybody this December will be tough and we’re not going to win every game,” Krumwiede said. “It’s a good wakeup call. It should make us tough and we’re a talented team that we need tests.”
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
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Dan Brannan also contributed to this story
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