By CHRIS RANDAZZO
of The Gazette
Despite the fact that Rosholt never trailed and a final score of 55-33, Port Edwards gave the Hornets boys basketball team all it could handle when the teams met in Rosholt on Friday, Nov. 30.
Port Edwards managed to keep the score close for three quarters, trailing by only one at the end of three. However, the Hornets jumped out on a 7-2 run at the beginning of the fourth and the Blackhawks seemed to come unhinged.
Hornets' center Cole Firkus played a pivotal role in the run, scoring four points on a field goal and 2 of 4 shooting from the free throw line. Firkus scored 10 points on the night.
"The fact that Port had to take chances in the fourth quarter really hurt them. They had to double and overplay and that allowed us to have one guy open at all times. When you have good ball handlers that see the floor well, that really hurts a team." said Rosholt coach Steve Schoofs. "If Port had been able to play man-to-man all game it wouldn't have been this bad."
The Blackhawks only scored two more points after that while the Hornets poured it on, scoring 25 points in the quarter, nearly matching their output for the first three quarters (30).
Kody Karch provided a spark off the bench for the team in the fourth quarter, scoring all six of his points.
Schoofs said that he was happy with the team's performance overall, but that there are still areas it can improve in. "We definitely have to work on our tempo. Everyone, no matter what five I have in the game have to know what tempo we play best at. A certain five out there, who are very good basketball players in their own right, happen to play a smidgen too fast," he said.
Schoofs said that playing at the right tempo was what made the difference in the game. "In the second half I thought we played more under control, we played at a better speed. I think we played much too fast in the first half. When Brad Zdroik is in the game we play at a speed that we are better at, when he's out of the game we're a little too fast," he said.
In the early going it looked like the game would be a rout, with the Hornets running out to a 12-4 lead early in the second quarter. However Port Edwards closed the quarter with a 9-3 spurt to end the half, tying the game at 19.
The Blackhawks stayed close throughout the third, never falling behind by more than three points, but the Hornets kept their composure and put the game away.
"These kids have played a lot of basketball. They are very confident in their abilities and feel if they can just stay in the game that they are going to make the right choices and I agree with that," Schoofs said.
The Zdroik family had a big impact on the game for the Hornets. Senior guard Dane Zdroik led the team in scoring with 13 points, while his cousins, brothers Brad (a senior forward) and Mat Zdroik (a sophomore guard), added nine and eight points respectively. Adam Macht scored six off the bench.