Prep boys basketball: Rock Bridge routs S-C in district semifinal 63-17

Entering the Tigers’ Class 5, District 9 semifinal with sixth-ranked Rock Bridge on Wednesday, Smith-Cotton coach Kevin Schnicker’s gameplan was sound.

Nurse the clock, get good shots and play good defense, and maybe the Tigers would be within striking distance for an upset.

Executing the gameplan, however, was not so easy against a team that beat them by 51 earlier in the year.

The Tigers were held scoreless in the second quarter and saw their season come to an end in a 63-17 loss, by far their lowest offensive output of the season.

“We played horrible,” Schnicker said. “We had a great gameplan going in. We held the ball for the first minute and a half but missed a layup, but got the stop and then held it again for another minute before missing another layup. Then they scored and we held it for another 40 seconds, but this time scored to go down 3-2 with maybe four minutes left in quarter.”

But Rock Bridge started connecting on its shots, ending the frame ahead 16-6. That lead grew to 35-6 at halftime, then 56-16 headed into the fourth quarter, where the running clock took affect.

“They’re good,” Schnicker said of the Bruins, who will play Hickman in the district championship on Friday. “They make you make mistakes that you might not make against other teams. They played well.”

Dalton Christian led the Tigers (8-18) with six points and Donovan Schnicker added three assists.