Kiser’s treys spark Zebras in win over shorthanded N. Miami

Paulik adds 14 as Rochester reaches .500

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

DENVER — The Rochester boys basketball team’s point guard continues to make a bigger impact on offense. Meanwhile, North Miami’s point guard is injured.

The dichotomy at that position alone might have been the difference as Rochester pulled away in the second half to beat the host Warriors 52-38 Saturday.

Carson Paulik is Rochester’s senior point guard, and he hit three 3-pointers and scored 14 points in support of Jonas Kiser’s game-high 15.

Meanwhile, North Miami played without their own senior point guard Kale Deardorff, who suffered an ankle injury in practice Friday. Karston Black hit four 3-pointers and scored 14 points without him, and Caden Clingaman and Ryan Meredith added 11 each.

But North Miami committed 16 turnovers as compared to Rochester’s nine, and Rochester held backcourt running mate Lake Musall to two points and held 6-8 big man Laython Norman scoreless.

Jack Reffett added seven, and Brady Coleman and Liam Spence added six each for Rochester.

Rochester improved to 7-7. North Miami dropped to 9-5. Rochester has not lost to North Miami since December 2016.

“When you lose your starting point guard for North Miami in that Deardorff kid, you just feel for the kid,” Rochester coach Luke Smith said. “And they were out of sorts at times, and our 2-3 in the second half, they really struggled with that, and I think having a point guard on the floor knowing how to attack something like that makes a difference.”

North Miami coach Chuck Evans said Deardorff suffered the injury in practice at 5 p.m. Friday. Practice ended at 5:15 p.m., giving coaches little time to form a Plan B.

Evans said the ankle had swollen to “softball size” and that he will be out two to four weeks.

“We struggled out there because the chemistry just wasn’t the same,” Evans said. “The dynamics of the team were not the same. And it showed. If you were here and if you’ve seen us play, you could tell. But we can’t cry about it right now. We’ve got to come back out. We probably got about four more games without him. We’re going to have to get some things taken care of. Today was the first day when we went.”

Rochester led 26-24 at halftime and clung to a 30-28 lead after a Meredith free throw with 5:17 left in the third quarter before the Zebras went on a 17-0 run that bled into the fourth quarter. Kiser had two 3-pointers and Reffett had a 3-pointer during the run, and Paulik also had a pair of baskets.

Paulik also scored 10 points in a 55-35 win over Northfield Friday. This marks the first time in his varsity career that he has scored in double figures in back-to-back games.

His first trey from the right corner slowed the Warriors’ momentum after an 8-2 start. He hit two more in the second quarter, one of which gave Rochester their first lead at 19-16. Another 3 from the left corner put the Zebras up 26-21 late in the half.

It continues a message that Smith had in a private meeting with Paulik earlier in the week: Shoot more.

“Our guys played great,” Smith said. “I love the way Carson is looking for his now. Kiser, he still played well. … I talked to my guys. I said our strength is our strength. Don’t let them try to speed you up. … The worst thing we can do is turn it over in a live floor and they get a breakout layup or something like that. … We talked about it in pregame tonight, just to be really solid with the ball. You know that’s been a point of emphasis for me.”

Kiser was asked how Paulik’s improved offense has benefitted him.

“He’s been shooting very well,” Kiser said. “It’s been real easy just to find him on a skip or on a reversal, and he usually knocks it down. So it’s been really fun.”

Kiser acknowledged that Rochester had to be careful not to force shots against North Miami’s stiff man-to-man defense. Pump fakes were a weapon with bigs like Meredith and Norman down low.

“I wouldn’t say we’re known for (being) a physical team, but we definitely have the ability to be physical when we need to be,” Kiser said. “But they were pretty physical with us.”

A Meredith free throw and a Black steal and runner helped North Miami get within two.

This also marks the first time since the first two games of the 2023-24 season against Culver and Winamac that Rochester has held back-to-back opponents under 40 points.

North Miami hit four 3-pointers against Rochester’s zone in the first quarter but only one triple the rest of the game. Rochester largely played man to man in the second quarter and early in the third. 

They went back to their 1-2-2 and 2-3 zones in the second half.

“We struggled offensively because we had guys that were uncomfortable in their spots,” Evans said. “We were down to three guards, and that’s what our offense is – three guards. So we had to rotate some guys in there. We had guys out of position. And it's hard for us to run sets because of that. We’re looking at what set can we run. We tried to run a set, and one of them didn’t know it. So now we’re down to the basics.”

Rochester also won the JV game 50-34. Parker Casper and Owen Lett led Rochester with 11 points each, Linden Wilburn had 10, Aiden Wilson had seven, Alex Chapman had six, and Van Kiser had five.

Courtlen Finnegan was North Miami’s top scorer with eight. Evan Chumbley and Aiden Adams had seven each, Jace Hall had five, Gabe Butzin had four, and Cole Thorington had three.

Rochester 52, North Miami 38

ROCHESTER (52) (7-7)

Carson Paulik 5 1-2 14, Brady Coleman 3 0-0 6, Jack Reffett 3 0-0 7, Liam Spence 3 0-0 6, Jonas Kiser 5 3-3 15, Mitchell Clark 1 0-0 2, Parker Casper 0 0-0 0, Conner Dunfee 0 0-0 0, Grant Clark 1 0-2 2

TEAM: 21 4-7 52

NORTH MIAMI (38) (9-5)

Lake Musall 1 0-0 2, Karston Black 5 0-0 14, Caden Clingaman 4 2-2 11, Ryan Meredith 3 5-8 11, Laython Norman 0 0-0 0, Ryan Smith 0 0-0 0, Courtlen Finnegan 0 0-0 0

TEAM: 13 7-10 38

Three-point field goals:

Rochester 6 (Paulik 3, Kiser 2, Reffett),

North Miami 5 (Black 4, Clingaman)

Total fouls: Rochester 17, North Miami 13

Turnovers: Rochester 9, North Miami 16

Score by quarters

Rochester 12 14 13 13 – 52

North Miami 14 10 4 10 – 38

JV: Rochester 50, North Miami 34