Necedah pulls away from Rockets

By David Paradise
Star-Times Sports Editor

dparadise@capitalnewspapers.com

The Necedah boys basketball team hosted the rival New Lisbon Rockets on Thursday for their Scenic Bluffs Conference opener.

Necedah was able to pull away from the Rockets in the middle quarters, outscoring New Lisbon 43-23 over the second and third quarters on their way to a 73-52 win.

In a game of runs, New Lisbon started the game off strong as John McCann, Trevor Gibbons and Chad Wyss were all able to score inside, and the Rockets took and early 6-0 lead.

Necedah used a run of their own scoring 10 straight, behind a strong full-court press and four points from Greg Belmonte to take a 10-6 lead.

New Lisbon answered with Wyss and McCann scoring back-to-back baskets that sent the game into the second quarter tied 10-10.

Necedah was able to use an 11-0 run in the middle of the second, keyed by nine points from Jason Steen to take a 25-16 lead.

The Rockets closed the gap to 25-22 with three straight baskets, before Brett Jump scored six of the Cardinals next eight, including the final four of the quarter to give Necedah a 33-26 lead at halftime.

Necedah continued to pull away in the third, as they outscored the Rockets 20-7 in the period to take a commanding 53-33 lead into the fourth quarter.

Jump scored six more in the third and Matt Housworth added five for the Cardinals.

New Lisbon looked to make a comeback in the fourth, but couldn't get any closer than 16 as the Cardinals improved to 2-0 on the season with a 73-52 win.

"We just need to play together. At times we weren't where we needed to be and we need to stay together as a unit," said New Lisbon coach Brad Bever. "They were the more aggressive team. We need to cut down on our mistakes and keep our heads up, there is a lot of basketball left."

Jump led all scorers with 18 points. Steen added 14 and Housworth finished with 12 for the Cardinals.

New Lisbon was led by Wyss with 16 points. Gibbons chipped in 11 and McCann added 10 for the Rockets.

Necedah will look to move to 3-0 on Tuesday when they host the Weston Silver Eagles (0-3) in non-conference play.

New Lisbon (3-3) will look to pick up their first conference win of the season when they take on the Wonewoc-Center Wolves (3-2) on Dec. 18 in New Lisbon.