Sterling, Va. — It’s a simple game. When you hit shots, you win. If you don’t, you lose. In the first half, the Stone Bridge High School boys basketball team didn’t hit shots. In the second, they hit some more, shooting their way to an 80-63 win over the Dominion Titans on December 4.
The Bulldogs outscored the Titans 31-15 in the final frame, making five three-pointers in the fourth and 13 total for the game.
It was a pivotal fourth quarter for the Bulldogs, as their senior duo of guard Evan Buckley and forward Isaiah Rhodes led their team to a win.
Rhodes experienced a bit of a slump earlier in the game but turned it around, scoring 14 points in the final two quarters and 23 for the game. He made four of the five three-pointers that led the Stone Bridge Bulldogs to their run in the fourth quarter.
“He was struggling there for three quarters, but he’s one of the best shooters I’ve ever coached,” Stone Bridge head coach Corey Stitzel said.
[adrotate banner=”19″]Buckley – who had missed nearly two months with a minor injury – looked good in his return. He attacked the rim with a vengeance, drawing numerous fouls, leading to eight free throw attempts in the second half.
“I feel like I’m back,” Buckley said. “I feel like I’m moving with more energy, and I’m feeling really good.”
The guard also efficiently distributed the ball, setting up Rhodes off numerous pick and rolls. It looked like a formula, as Rhodes would drift out to the arc and Buckley would find him and watch with glee as the ball went in the net seven times in the game.
“We started running stuff for him, started getting him open shots,” Buckley said. “He started screening very well. Everyone knows when you screen well, you get the open shot.”
That same admiration extended to Rhodes’s opponent.
“He just hit shots. He made a couple open ones, but he hit one in Mark’s face, too,” Dominion head coach Anthony Eifler said. “We knew we needed to close out hard on him and that he was gonna hit some shots, and unfortunately for us, he hit the ones that mattered at that time.”
The game’s final score was a bit misleading, however, as the Titans played pretty well for the first three quarters.
“It doesn’t feel like a 17-point game,” Stitzel said. “That’s a lot closer game.”
After falling down by eleven early, Dominion clawed back.
Dominion junior forward Mark Schroeder entered the game off the bench and had an incredible impact. He stretched the floor, hitting three three-pointers and also got buckets in the low post, scoring 18 in the first half that saw the Titans lead, 34-33.
“I don’t know, I was just feeling myself,” Schroeder said. “It doesn’t usually happen, but I felt good tonight.”
Schroeder finished with a game-high 27 points, and even after a loss, Eifler couldn’t help but be excited for his player.
“That was unreal, I love it. It couldn’t happen to a better kid,” Eifler said. “That kid does everything we ask him to as a staff. Every conversation we have as a staff is that Mark needs to play more, and then Mark goes off.”
After a third quarter that saw both teams trade baskets, the aforementioned fourth quarter happened, and Stone Bridge escaped with a win.
“[Dominion] is scrappy,” Stitzel said. “They did a good job for three quarters, and then we had two players who aren’t going to pay for college who took over in the fourth quarter.”
