MOOSEHEART, IL - Family Night tends to be a rough night for Mooseheart's boys' basketball team. Players, some of whom have not had guardians or other family members in attendance for most or all of the season, find themselves playing before people they desperately want to impress.
"Family Night brings a lot of pressure to our kids and they want to perform well," Mooseheart coach Jeff Perales said. "Historically, as long as I've been a coach here, guys have struggled. They want to overdo things with their families here. And that showed again tonight."
That scenario played out again on Monday when the Ramblers hit a wall in the second half and allowed a stirring comeback by visiting Hinckley-Big Rock. The Royals used a huge fourth quarter and defeated Mooseheart 51-48.
"We really played poorly," Perales said. "Monday's always a difficult day to play on, and we just had too many turnovers. We did not execute offensively."
The Ramblers (12-6) got off to a great start and led by double-digits for much of the first half. Even midway through the third quarter, the margin still stood at 13 points.
But then the Royals (14-10) began to rally, thanks in large part to Ryan Salazar. The junior had nine points at halftime, but stayed consistent on a night when most scorers from both teams had a quarter in which they struggled.
Salazar finished with a game-high 22 points.
"(Royals coach Bill Sambrookes) always has his group ready to play all the time," Perales said. "We got upset, but we'll respond and we'll get ready for tomorrow."
Mooseheart finishes its home portion of the schedule on Tuesday with a 4:30 p.m. varsity contest against Joliet Ridgewood.
Dennis Davis powered Mooseheart's strong first quarter when he scored half his team's 16 points and as the Ramblers took a 16-7 lead.
Floyd Mays added eight of his 12 points in the second quarter and the lead stood 30-20 at halftime.
The Royals began their comeback in the third quarter and finished the job in the fourth quarter. After scoring 30 first half points, Mooseheart scored 18 in the second half.
GAME STATS
| Hinckley Big Rock: |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Michaels |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| |
Salazar |
8 |
5 |
9 |
22 |
| |
Burks |
1 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| |
Tokars |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
| |
Korth |
2 |
5 |
6 |
9 |
| |
Michael |
2 |
1 |
3 |
5 |
| |
Sutherland |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| |
Austin |
4 |
1 |
2 |
10 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Totals |
18 |
13 |
21 |
51 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| Mooseheart: |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Kendor |
2 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
| |
Smith |
2 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
| |
Davis |
4 |
0 |
2 |
8 |
| |
Mays |
5 |
1 |
2 |
12 |
| |
Moreno |
2 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
| |
Tovar |
5 |
3 |
4 |
13 |
| |
Davy |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| |
Martin |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
| |
Moore |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Totals |
20 |
4 |
8 |
48 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| Hinckley-Big Rock |
7 |
13 |
14 |
17 |
51 |
| Mooseheart |
16 |
14 |
9 |
9 |
48 |
Hinckley-Big Rock Austin 2.
Mooseheart: Smith 1, Mays 1.
Hinckley-Big Rock 9,
Mooseheart 18. Fouled out: None.
| 
