Rosewood boys snap 6-game skid

By News-Argus Staff
Published in Sports on December 18, 2013 1:48 PM

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astevens@newsargus.com

Rosewood picked a good time to play one of its best games of the season.

The Eagles got contributions from every player on their roster in a 77-36 win over Carolina 1-A Conference foe Hobbton on Tuesday evening.

Zack Barnes scored 20 points for the Eagles, who snapped a six-game losing streak in the league opener for both teams. Dennis Mitchell added 11 points.

Eleven Rosewood players scored in the game.

"I thought everybody stepped in and played well with a lot of effort," Eagles' head coach Daniel Mitchell said. "We talked about the non-conference was to get us ready for this part of the season. We've had a rough stretch of it early and we talked about everybody being 0-0 in the conference.

"It was definitely a big win for us."

Rosewood opened the game on an 11-2 run that was fueled by a pair of 3-pointers from Barnes. The Eagles used full-court pressure to force turnovers and disrupt the Wildcats' offense.

"I thought (our defense) dictated the pace early," Mitchell said. "We were active and we had a lot of tips and a lot of deflections. We were able to get some turnovers or some rebounds and able to push the ball a little bit and get some easy baskets."

The return of point guard Marquail Almontaser, forward Jon Hair and Dennis Mitchell to Rosewood's lineup paid dividends. Almontaser and Hair combined to score 12 points.

"This is the first game that we've had everybody back with us," Mitchell said. "We've had some guys that have been injured so this is the first game for all of us together. I thought it was a good team effort. I thought we played well as a team."

The Eagles closed the second quarter on a 10-2 run and led 42-18 at the half. Hobbton was never able to significantly cut into the deficit during the final two quarters. Hunter Britt led the Wildcats with eight points.

Rosewood (1-6 overall, 1-0 CC) visits Carolina Conference foe James Kenan on Thursday.