The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Rockets’ bench contributes to win
It takes more than one player to power a team at the regional level — a fact Bay is all too familiar with having been on this stage a mere two seasons ago.
They knew it would take more than just another stellar performance from senior R.J. Sunahara to take down Columbus Beechcroft in a March 15 regional semifinal, and sure enough, the Rockets earned contributions from up and down the lineup to stun the secondranked Cougars and advance to a second regional final appearance in three seasons.
Sunahara certainly made his presence known with 18 points, 19 rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks, but seven other players scored and rebounded for Bay (20-6), including what coach Jared Shetzer called a breakout performance from Francis Sherman.
The 6-foot-3 junior finished with nine points and seven rebounds, knocking down one of the biggest shots of the game.
With a 10-point lead heading into the fourth quarter, Bay traded turnovers with Beechcroft in the opening few minutes before Sunahara found Sherman in the corner for a wide open 3 that left no doubt as soon as it left his hands, and the Rockets reenergized for the final six minutes.
“I know coach doesn’t put me in there really to score. He expects me to play with a lot of heart and physicality and energy so that’s really what I wanted to do,” Sherman said. “(But) we shoot a lot in practice so if I’m wide open in the corner I think (Coach) would get mad at me if I didn’t shoot it.”
“It always takes one or two guys at this level to really have a breakout performance and Francis Sherman just had one of those breakout performances for us tonight and provided so much energy for us off the bench,” Shetzer added. “That’s the best game he’s played all year and it came at the right time.”
But it wasn’t just Sherman’s play off the bench that made an impact.
Players like Cade Gergye came off the bench to make big defensive plays in the second half and Jack Maxwell knocked down two of Bay’s seven 3-pointers after a poor shooting performance in the first half.
“It’s something at this level you just have to have,” Shetzer said. “R.J. obviously has 19 rebounds and 18 points and that’s huge. That’s unbelievable. But you look at little stats here and there. Three rebounds for Cade Gergye who’s a 6-2 guy jumping and boxing out with 6-6, 6-7 guys. Those rebounds are huge. Francis getting those rebounds was huge. Jack Maxwell comes in and hits two huge 3s for us . ... I can’t say enough about our group.”
Even Beechcroft coach Humphrey Simmons didn’t expect the kind of role the Rockets’ bench would play in the outcome of the game.
The Cougars gameplanned around Sunahara and junior Erik Painter, hoping to force their teammates into unfamiliar territory, but learned the hard way not to doubt the postseason drive of a Bay basketball team.
“With Bay, I knew R.J. and Erik was basically the heart of the team,” Simmons said. “They average double figures, got great numbers, so our game plan was to shut them down and force the other players on the team to make plays.”
That’s exactly what the Rockets did.