Kingsway Rolls Past the Cagers
February 6, 2024
Three days earlier, the Cagers and the Kingsway Eagles faced off in the Blazer Classic. The Eagles would prevail in a hard-fought defensive slugfest. All indicators were that the rematch on Tuesday night would be a mirror image of that first meeting. But, it wasn’t as the Cagers fell 48-40 in a clash of local teams.
The Cagers (1-13) lost the tip but gained all the momentum in the early going. Two early buckets by Luke DeRodes followed up by a bucket by Trent Roe and the Cagers were out to an early 6-0 lead. The defense was stifling at the other end holding Kingsway in check. After a stop, the Cagers raced down the court swung the ball around the horn and found a wide-open Roe in the right corner. He set his feet and tickled the twine from downtown to give the hosts a 9-0 lead, forcing Kingsway to call a time out. “We started fast for the first time all year and executed,” said Head Coach Doug Hamsher. However, that would be the end of the fireworks as Kingsway ramped up the pace of the game at both ends and finished the quarter on a 14-0 run.
The end of the first quarter carried over as the Cagers could get nothing going on offense. The second 8 minutes of the game was marked by turnovers. “Kingsway turned up the pressure and we panicked on offense. Defensively we didn’t cover their shooters. And we paid for it,” said Hamsher. Roe and DeRodes would add 4 points each in the quarter. The Eagles would extend the lead to 30-18 by half time.
The third quarter was not much of an offensive outburst. Led by silky smooth 6-3 sophomore forward Luke DeRodes, the Cagers would win the quarter 6-5. All the Cager points would come from DeRodes, who Hamsher says is really playing well. “Luke has really come on the second half of the year. He is gaining confidence, developing his game, and showing glimpses of what kind of a player he could be down the line. At the end of the third, Kingsway held the lead 35-24.
Kingsway put no doubt into the outcome of this game early in the fourth. The Eagles got multiple fast break points as well as slicing and dicing the Cagers zone. In no time flat it was 41-27. But the Cagers started to claw back into the game bucket by bucket. DeRodes would find paydirt off an offensive rebound. Roe raced down the court for an uncontested layup. And Anthony Gonzalez would pull up from 23 feet and bury a three pointer. At one point the Cagers cut the lead to 8, but that is as close as they got. Although the game didn’t turn out like Hamsher wanted, he says they are getting better. “If you saw us early in the year and then watched us now, we are a totally different team, a better team. The scoreboard doesn’t indicate how far this team has come. Their value as young men and improvement on the floor doesn’t depend on the score.” For the game, DeRodes led all scorers with 20. Roe had 14 and Gonzalez added 6.
