BOYS BASKETBALL: ROCKFORD 56, Nashua-Plainfield 49

By Andrew Larson, Press Correspondent

NASHUA — The Rockford Warriors managed to hang on to defeat Nashua-Plainfield, 56-49, to pick up their second win of the season.

The Huskies looked to be in control of the game early, leading by as many as five points in the first quarter. Senior forward Brody Schmitt gave the Huskies early push with a pair of baskets in the opening quarter, but a pair of 3-point field goals from sophomore Zach Bushbaum and freshman Jacob Staudt kept the Warriors in it early on. At the end of the first quarter the score stood at 14-9 in favor of the Huskies.

In the second quarter, the Warriors scored five points unanswered, capped off by Staudt’s second three-point basket of the game. Later, Rockford senior Tony Hain tied the game at 20 with a pair of free throws before both teams went into intermission with 22 points apiece.

Things remained close for much of the third quarter until the Warriors took off on an 11-2 run during the latter half of the quarter to put Rockford up 41-32.

Sophomore guard Alex Bienemann got the Huskies back into it with a late three-point shot with under a minute to play, and the score would eventually stand at 43-37 at the end of the third quarter. Staudt opened the fourth quarter with his third 3-point basket of the contest to put the Warriors back up nine, forcing the Huskies to play catch-up for the remainder of the game. Nashua-Plainfield got the score to as close as 3 points multiple times throughout the quarter, but timely free-throw shooting by the Warriors (2-9) clinched the game in the end, thanks in large part to Bushbaum who made four consecutive attempts to all but put the game away.

After the game, Warriors coach Ben Klapperich attributed the win to “playing hard and controlling the boards”. “We wanted to push the tempo against them,” Klapperich said. “We got great guard play from Jacob Staudt. Alex Schriever really controlled the flow of the game and our sophomores gave us some quality minutes.”

The Warriors next prepare for a big home game against undefeated West Fork on Friday.