Rosecrans can't overcome poor shooting in tourney loss
- Rosecrans shot just 29 percent from the field and were outrebounded 31-19.
NEW PHILADELPHIA – Rosecrans' stall tactic worked brilliantly for 24 minutes against taller, more-talented Malvern on Friday night.
The final eight, however, proved to be the Bishops' undoing.
Rosecrans effectively spread the floor and picked their spots to attack, well enough to take a one-point lead on a Keagen McLaughlin drive to the basket with 3:52 left in the third quarter.
However, the Bishops managed just one field goal in its next 15 possessions, a fatal flaw that proved to be the difference in a 45-34 loss in a Division IV sectional final game at New Philadelphia High School.
Michael Fisher's 12 points led the Bishops, who finished a 12-12 campaign with a sophomore-dominated team led by top scorers Michael Fisher and Aaron Gehlken.
"We went from 10 wins last year to 12, so this is something to build on," Rosecrans coach Todd Rock said. "Whenever you go through a rebuilding situation and win 12 games that's saying something. Now we have to get better."
Like many games against superior talent this season, the Bishops couldn't maintain consistency.
Its five-guard starting lineup, featuring a pair of double-figure scorers in sophomores Gehlken and Fisher, managed only three field goals from inside the arc on a night it only was 10-of-37 from the floor.
Yet, the Bishops were within striking distance well into the final quarter, getting as close as 31-28 after Gehlken's 3 from the wing with 6:32 left — his only field goal.
The Bishops wouldn't score again until Elliot Start hit a 3 from the corner with 1:45 to play — a span of seven possessions. By then the Hornets made just enough free throws — they were nine of their last 10 after missing 10 of their first 17 — to build a 39-31 lead.
"We executed for 31/2 quarters what we wanted to do, but we just couldn't make shots," Rock said. "We got a couple good looks we just didn't make. When you get down seven we had to start playing a little more, and we knew we weren't going to run up and down the floor with these guys."
Rosecrans lamented its missed chances.
It only was 3-of-18 from the field in the first half, yet trailed 17-15 at halftime after Fisher hit a 3 to end each quarter. His second, with a hand in his face, brought the Bishops' crowd to its feet and gave the team plenty of momentum.
It carried into the third as 3s by Fisher and Jared Cox staked the Bishops to a 23-22 lead midway through the quarter.
But the impending offensive lull, coupled with a pair of costly second-chance points for 6-foot-7 Alex Loomis, proved to be the difference.
"We had a shot at the break," Fisher said. "We just kind of stopped playing defense and they got a couple easy baskets that hurt us."
Fisher, who finished with more than 80 3-pointers, will join Gehlken as potentially the area's top 1-2 punch returning next season.
But finding more scorers is a must for the team to break the district ice.
"We've got to get stronger, that's our No. 1 weakness," Rock said. "We have a lot of guys that need to get in the weight room. When you get stronger you get quicker. That has to be our main focus."
Jaret Majestic, a lefty guard, had 14 points, Loomis 12 and Brevin Thomas 10 to lead Malvern, which had a 31-11 edge in free-throw attempts and a commanding 31-19 edge in rebounding.
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