Eagles soar past Kipp Pride

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on December 23, 2009 1:46 PM

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PRINCETON -- Penetration to the basket, finding open shooters, knocking down jump shots and making the extra pass.

Rosewood's boys did it all offensively in the second half on its way to a 60-40 rout of Kipp Pride in the consolation game of the Princeton Christmas Tournament on Tuesday night.

The Eagles outscored the Panthers 40-25 in the second half after holding a scant, five-point lead at intermission.

Terrence Rodgers' 3-pointer tied the game at 22-22 early in the third quarter before the Eagles closed the quarter on a 15-4 run.

The Eagles found success in penetrating into the lane for layups or kicking the ball out to open shooters. Rosewood knocked down eight 3-pointers, including three in the fourth quarter from Shane Whitley. Whitley scored all 11 of his points off the bench in the fourth quarter.

"I think in the second half we came out and played with much better intensity," said Eagles head coach Daniel Mitchell. "It seemed like once we got into the painted area we did a good job of finding open players. I thought we were unselfish with the ball and got it where it needed to be.

"Guys knocked down shots."

Rosewood scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter and saw its lead grow to 55-34 on Whitley's final 3-pointer. Cody Harris, an all-tournament team selection, led the Eagles with 16 points in just three quarters of action. Jacquez Raynor added 10.

Chris Wilkins scored 11 for the Panthers.

A night after pushing rival Princeton to overtime before coming up short, Rosewood (4-7 overall) walked out of the gym feeling positive about the direction it's headed.

"I feel good about where we are," said Mitchell. "We've had some tough non-conference games and we feel like we're starting to have an identity of how we want to play and where our shots are going to come from. We're pleased with where we are right now."