01-23-16
BY JACK BULLOCK
OKAWVILLE - Coach Jon Kraus knew his team was going to be focused heading into their Saturday night game against rival Waterloo Gibault.

But he wasn't expecting the dominating performance that he got from his state-ranked and ABV top-ranked 1A squad.

The Rockets jumped out to a quick lead and didn't tone down the intensity until the last few minutes of the contest as they rolled to an impressive 59-37 victory.

The win atones for a unexpected 59-51 defeat at the hands of the Hawks on December 22.

Shane Ganz, a 6-foot-3 junior guard, netted a game-high 23-points for the Rockets, who are now 19-3 on the season.

Okawville has won all three tournaments that they have appeared in this season, while adding a second-straight title in their own two-year old event.

The Rockets finished the week 4-0.

Coach Kraus club lit up the scoreboard to the tune of 25-of-42 (59.5 percent) and the Rockets were especially effective near the basket, hitting 19-of-27 attempts inside the arc (70.3 percent).

“Our kids had good focus tonight. We shot around today at 11:30 and honestly I didn't think it would be that kind of game,” said Coach Kraus. “Our kids, when they are focused and ready to play with energy, we play like that. We just sometimes have a hard time getting the kids to focus like that. For some reason, when we shot around today I felt like we were well prepared.”

In stark contrast, Okawville's defense frustrated Coach Dennis Rueter's team.

The Hawks finished just 14-of-47 overall (29.7 percent) and 4-of-18 from beyond the 3-point line.

The Rockets took off on an early run as they scored just seconds into the opening frame and led 8-2 early with baskets by Ganz, Alec Wisneski, Brenden Killion and Noah Frederking.

Okawville closed the quarter on an even better scoring spree.

A 9-2 burst was closed by Ganz, who drove to the basket for a score while being fouled.

His converted free throw made it 20-9 at the end of the first quarter.

“Well they (Okawville) came out and they were prepared and got some quick baskets. Defensively we weren't very smart. We thought we knew what we were wanting to do but we just didn't do a very good job,” said Coach Rueter. “Then we didn't shoot the ball very well, obviously. Consequently they got ahead of us and it isn't in our best interest to play from behind. We just didn't make shots.”

The Rockets scored the first six points of the second quarter to push their lead to 26-9.

Buckets by Wisneski, Ganz and Frederking were derived from the Okawville halfcourt game as they patiently got open shots against the Hawks' defense.

A score by senior guard Brad Fuhrhop on a cut to the basket made it 28-11.

The one bright spot for the Hawks on the night was the offensive play of senior forward Brian Deterding.

He scored 14-points for Gibault, the only one in double-figures, including six-points in the first half.

His score in the lane finished the half at 28-13 Rockets.

“We got off to a really good start and they didn't, they (Gibault) struggled and missed some shots and we didn't. It snowballed on them and we just got more confident as the game went on,” said Coach Kraus. “We talked about it today that we need to get more guys being more aggressive to attack the paint. Noah is going to get his points but we need other guys to contribute and we were pretty balanced tonight.”

The outcome was sealed in the first few minutes of the third quarter as the hosts took care of the Hawks.

Okawville nailed three 3-pointers in the third quarter and their defense kept Gibault from any runs.

Frederking got loose in the lane for an early score and Ganz followed that up with a basket on a drive.

Ganz then canned one of his two trey's in the quarter to give the Rockets a 35-15 spread with 6:20 remaining.

The quarter closed with more stops by the Rockets and more points on the other end.

Frederking nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the circle that beat the buzzer for a 43-22 advantage.

Fuhrhop and Frederking both added 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and Ganz netted a pair of free throws and then scored on a nice pass from Frederking to make it 55-27.

The lead reached its largest spot when Killion scored twice in the paint on a rebound basket and a short jumper.

His second score with 1:31 left made it 59-29 Rockets.

With the Rockets reserves on the floor, Gibault scored the games last eight-points.

Coach Kraus' club clubbed the Hawks on the boards, with a 27-17 edge and committed just five turnovers.

“He (Ganz) really attacked tonight with the mentality to score the basketball and when he does that he score like that (23-points),” said Coach Kraus. “Tonight we were aggressive from the start. Offensively has never been an issue with us but defensively we guarded tonight as well as we have guarded in a long, long time.”