Tekoa-Rosalia beats Jenkins

TEKOA - Head coach Mike Bone and his Tekoa-Rosalia boys basketball team hosted the Jenkins (Chewelah) Cougars on Dec. 29.

Tekoa-Rosalia got its sixth win of the season and left Jenkins still looking for its first, beating the Cougars 64-57 in a competitive back-and-forth game.

Tekoa-Rosalia began the game with a 5-2 lead, with all points coming from Morgun Martin, before Jenkins fought back to tie. The Cougars proceeded to take an 8-5 lead off a Parker Anderson 3-pointer with just under four minutes to go in the opening quarter.

The Timberwolves tied the game at 14 with 1:04 to go in the opening frame and both squads went into the second quarter tied at 19.

Three minutes into the second quarter, the Cougars took a 27-22 lead. Tekoa-Rosalia went on an 8-6 in the final five minutes of the frame to cut the Jenkins' lead to 33-30 heading into halftime.

With just over two minutes played into the third quarter, the Timberwolves took a 36-35 lead.

Tekoa-Rosalia proceeded to go on a 15-9 run from that point on in the final six minutes of the third quarter to go up 51-44, its largest lead of the game. Jadin Campbell hit the buzzer-beating lay-in to give the Timberwolves the seven-point advantage to start the final eight minutes of the game.

"We were just trying to focus on rebounds," Mike Bone said. "Our defense, trying to get in a help position. (Jenkins) did a really good job attacking the rim and putting pressure on us. So it was rebounding... and then finally getting the shots to fall in the second half was a huge part of it."

Tekoa-Rosalia took its only double-digit lead of the game with 6:11 to go in the final quarter – Isaac Bone made one out of two free throws to put the Timberwolves up 54-44.

Jenkins went on a 7-3 run in the following two-and-a-half minutes to cut the T-R lead down to 57-51, before the Timberwolves went back up 60-51 after an and-one play by Isaac Bone.

The Cougars again went on a run, getting a steal while trailing 60-57 with 48 seconds left in the game.

Jenkins couldn't make a shot on the pivotal possession after the steal and was forced to intentionally foul Tekoa-Rosalia, ultimately resulting in the seven-point win for the Timberwolves.

"We were getting good looks in the first half, so it was all about 'keep working what we're working,'" Mike Bone said. "Setting good screens, making the right reads, dropping it to the people when someone helps and just get open shots – and focus on the shots so we start making them."

Mike Bone had several junior varsity players sitting on the bench who observed the highly-contested game between the Cougars and the Timberwolves. Although they weren't able to play due to how close the game was, Mike Bone still emphasized the importance of being able to be on the bench for such a competitive game.

"(The JV players) compete really well in practice," Bone said. "So I like to bring them up (to varsity) to reward them. And running with such a thin rotation, they're there in case of an emergency. We got in a little bit of foul trouble, and so they're there in case something else happens."

Isaac Bone led Tekoa-Rosalia with 24 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists, four blocks and three steals.Martin added 18 points and five rebounds and Campbell added 15 points, four rebounds and three steals.