MOOSEHEART, Jan. 19 - So far, 2010 has been a kind year for Mooseheart's boys basketball team. The Ramblers, 3-5 exiting 2009, have gone 6-2 - with the combined 9-7 record beginning to look like something Coach Ron Ahrens envisioned at the start of the campaign.
Tuesday, the Ramblers blitzed Hinckley-Big Rock early and never relented in a 71-34 nonconference win.
"After Christmas break, that's always the second season of basketball," Mooseheart senior Munir Smith said. "Like Coach (Ahrens) said, we were 3-5 in the first season and this is a new season and we have to finish strong."
Smith had a strong game on Tuesday, scoring 11 points and adding 13 rebounds as the Ramblers raced to a 17-4 lead after the first quarter and never led by less than 10 points the rest of the way.
The Ramblers top scorer, however, was Levi Chavez, who scored a game-high 27 points and came alive in the second quarter - when he scored 10 of those points. Chavez continued his hot hand in the third quarter as the lead continued to grow. At halftime, Mooseheart led 39-10 and the margin was 57-26 entering the fourth quarter.
"We were just running up the floor passing and looking to score," Chavez said. "We caught them (Hinckley-Big Rock) on an off night. You've got to be grateful for that."
Mooseheart's third player in double-digit scoring was Shawn McReynolds, who finished with 12 points. Isaiah Brigman added 8 points.
"One thing I always measure with Hinckley-Big Rock is that they have very smart basketball players," Ahrens said. "I always say their basketball knowledge is better than ours. They are a good basketball knowledge team. I really think we caught them on an off night."
Hinckley-Big Rock (5-14) had one hot hand - Brian Michaels - who finished with 22 points. But the most any other Royals player scored was 6 points.
"They did exactly what they wanted to do and we didn't play a very good game tonight," Hinckley-Big Rock coach Bill Sambrookes said. "I thought we came out and played a better second half. At least we played more aggressive. I thought we were flat-footed in the first half."
Mooseheart has had a hectic schedule. The Ramblers lost to Rockford Christian on Friday, played twice on Saturday and twice on Monday in the South Beloit Martin Luther King, Jr. tournament and faced Hinckley-Big Rock on Tuesday. The Ramblers don't have a competitive game again until Friday, when they visit Keith Country Day School.
Stats |
| Michaels |
10 |
0 |
0 |
22 |
Landmeier |
0 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
| McKenzie |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
Madden |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Hemseth |
3 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
Laurie |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
McNanna |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Harper |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Blume |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Chase |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
Peters |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
Totals |
15 |
1 |
6 |
34 |
| |
|
|
|
|
McReynolds |
5 |
0 |
0 |
12 |
Yarngo |
2 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
Brigman |
4 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
Chavez |
13 |
0 |
0 |
27 |
| Smith |
5 |
0 |
2 |
11 |
Moore |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Owens |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Lech |
2 |
1 |
1 |
15 |
Crump |
2 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
Totals |
33 |
1 |
3 |
71 |
Scoring |
Hinckley-Big Rock |
4 |
6 |
16 |
8 |
- |
34 |
Mooseheart |
17 |
22 |
18 |
14 |
- |
71 |
3-point goals:
Hinckley-Big Rock:
Michaels 2, McKenzie 1
Mooseheart:
McReynolds 2, Chavez 1, Smith 1. Fouled out: None.
| 
