Cochranton eliminated from D10 playoffs after loss to Rocky Grove
Feb. 28—Oil City — Cochranton was eliminated from the District 10 Class 1A playoffs after their loss to Rocky Grove 60-51 at Oil City High School on Tuesday.
Cochranton started out the game strong, but fizzled out as the speed that Rocky Grove was playing with proved to be too much for the Cardinals to handle over four quarters. The game began as a defensive effort, with Cochranton not allowing Rocky Grove to get their shooters in position.
Cochranton's offensive strategy was simple: use their size advantage to push the ball down the middle and wear Rocky Grove down. Cochranton was consistently getting the ball inside to their big forwards to put pressure on the opponent's defense.
"We were trying to get the ball inside because they are smaller," said Cochranton head coach Phil Canfield.
In the second half, Rocky Grove's defense came out with some adjustments and began to stifle the Cardinals attempts to get the ball up the middle. At the same time, the Orioles offense was lighting on fire jumping out to a 32-25 lead in the opening of the third quarter after being down 25-22 entering halftime.
"Credit to them," said Canfield. "They played a nice game, and they made the shots they needed to."
Cochranton's defense began to rally again toward the end of the game, but missed opportunities proved costly for the Cardinals, as they just weren't able to execute on steals and rebounds.
"We made a couple really nice moves, just couldn't finish them" said Canfield.
With Cochranton's offense cooling down, Rocky Grove continued to put the pressure on offense, getting a few fast breaks that led to baskets. The Orioles extended their lead, until it was simply too much for Cochranton to handle.
Sophomore Walker Carroll led the Cochranton offense with 29 points on the night to go along with two 3-pointers. Senior Dawson Carroll scored 11 points on the night.
"There's a lot to look forward to next year, but I'm going to focus on this team, this year, after this game tonight." Canfield said about the teams future next season. "Very proud of our guys, we battled and stuck with it... Hard to see some of our seniors go, but we've got talent... Definitely looking to be back here next year."
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Cochranton 51
W. Carroll 11 5-5 29, D.Carroll 4 2-4 11, B. Rynd 1 5-7 7 G. Sekerski 1 0-0 2 N. Knapka 1 0-0 2.
Totals: 18 12-16 51.
Rocky Grove 60
S.Anderson 7 5-7 24, L.Carter 5 3-5 13, N. Baughman 3 3-4 11, A. Focht 1 4-4 7, C. Richey 1 0-0 3, J.Hughes 1 0-0 2.
Totals: 18 15-20 60
Rocky Grove 12 10 21 17 — 60
Cochranton 12 13 6 20 — 51
3-point goals: Rocky Grove — S. Anderson 5, N. Baughman 2, A. Focht 1, Connor Ritchey 1, Cochranton — W. Carroll 2, D. Carroll 1.
Trevor Teubner can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at trevor@meadvilletribune.com.
