Kiser scores 14, Paulik adds 10 as Rochester keeps Northfield winless

Zebra zone holds Norsemen to 3 points in 2nd quarter

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Rochester boys basketball coach Luke Smith said he humorously heard Northfield coach Rex Reimer request from the other bench that he play a man-to-man defense during their game at the RHS gym Friday.

No chance. Rochester’s 2-3 zone was working too well.

Rochester replied with a 20-1 run and cruised home with a 55-35 win.

Jonas Kiser led Rochester with 14 points, and Carson Paulik added 10. Liam Spence and Brady Coleman had eight each, and Grant Clark had a season-high seven off the bench.

Holmes, a 6-4 sophomore center, led Northfield with 13 points, but Rochester held him scoreless in the second quarter for a 10-minute span from late in the first quarter to early in the third quarter.

Breckon Floor added nine off the bench on three 3-pointers as Northfield cut what had been a 24-point deficit down to 16, but Northfield succumbed to 22 turnovers.

Rochester, by comparison, had 10 turnovers. Rochester also made more free throws (11) than Northfield attempted (8).

Rochester beat Northfield for the ninth straight year and improved to 6-7 overall and 2-3 in the Three Rivers Conference. Northfield fell to 0-13, 0-5.

“It was a sluggish start, and that’s not exactly what we talked about coming out,” Rochester coach Luke Smith said. “I think they had a quick nine points right off the get-go, and then they stalled there, and I think they finished the half with 13.”

Carson Paulik triggered the run with a go-ahead 3-pointer off a Clark kickout pass from the post to make it 12-9. Mitchell Clark split a pair of free throws, and Spence split a pair of free throws before Holmes split a pair of free throws to make it 14-10 after one quarter.

A short runner from Kiser, a lefty finish off the glass from the right side of the rim from Grant Clark, a Spence 3-pointer off a Kiser assist, two Coleman free throws, a Kiser putback off a Reffett missed 3, a Kiser blow-by and left-handed finish at the rim and a Spence lefty runner capped the run and made it 29-10.

Logan Holmes knocked down a 3 from the right wing to break a 7:19 scoring drought, but another Kiser driving bucket got the lead to 31-13 at halftime.

“I underestimated how good that (Cody) Holmes kid was, to be honest with you,” Smith said. “He came out, and he was bigger and quicker than I thought he was, and he did a really job in just his physicality. We got caught behind him. We talked pregame we can’t get stuck behind those big guys like that. Unfortunately, we came out in man, and we knew where they were going. And second half there, Rex is yelling, ‘Go man, Coach! Go man, Coach!’ And he’s yelling at me across the sideline. I said, ‘Nah, I think I’m going to stay in a zone here.’”

Northfield would creep within 37-23 in the third quarter on a Cody Holmes putback, but Rochester went on another 10-0 run that bled into the fourth quarter. Paulik flashed into the post and scored off a Grant Clark assist, and then Grant Clark scored on a putback of a Coleman missed layup.

Grant Clark returned to the court against Whitko Jan. 9 after a six-game absence due to right knee surgery. He said he suffered the injury during a basketball camp during the summer and played the entire 11-game football season with the injury.

A senior defensive end-tight end, he announced on social media earlier this week that he will attend the University of Indianapolis for football.

“We knew I was going to have to have it,” Grant Clark said of the surgery. “It happened at the basketball camp. I dislocated my knee twice. … So they had to do a procedure that just removes a fluid and put different fluids in so it could be a setting stone and be able to regenerate the tendons. … I’m just thankful that it’s all fixed now, and I got through football season the way that I did.”

Smith said that Grant Clark’s conditioning is not where either he or Grant Clark wants it to be. Still, Smith said he called him into his office this week and told him that he would be getting more playing time. Smith said he can be a “huge factor” when facing taller players like Cody Holmes.

His offensive role has also expanded. His biggest regret was making just 3 of 6 free throws.

“Coach has been getting me a lot more involved in the offense,” Grant Clark said. “Just finishing at the rim, flashing across the paint. That’s been my role lately. I’ve got to finish those free throws. I’ve got to make those free throws.”

Rochester also rolled in the JV game 60-23. Linden Wilburn led Rochester with 12 points, Parker Casper had 10, Aiden Wilson had eight, Alex Chapman had eight, Taylor Howard had six, Van Kiser had five, Grayson Miller had five, Mason Oliver had four, and Owen Lett had two.

Zebra notes

• Smith praised Conner Dunfee for some “really good minutes” off the bench before Dunfee hobbled off with a left ankle injury.

• The Northfield-Rochester game was the only TRC game Friday not to go into overtime. Northwestern beat Southwood 62-60 in overtime, Lewis Cass beat Maconaquah 56-54 in overtime, and Whitko topped Peru 87-82 in four overtimes. Northwestern’s win leaves them as the only undefeated team left in the TRC.

• Students from the Grace Church Preschool said the Pledge of Allegiance prior to the game.

• The Special Olympics of Fulton County “Dream Team” played an intrasquad scrimmage at halftime.

Rochester 55, Northfield 35

NORTHFIELD (35) (0-13, 0-5)

Logan Holmes 2 0-0 6, Bode Sorg 1 0-0 2, Ryder Schram 0 0-0 0, Brody Schnurpel 1 0-0 2, Cody Holmes 5 3-4 13, Tyler Haupert 0 0-0 0, Breckon Floor 3 0-0 9, Asa Dawes 0 0-0 0, Kasen Frank 0 3-4 3, Holten Satterthwaite 0 0-0 0, Kale Krom 0 0-0 0, Wyatt Barton 0 0-0 0

TEAM: 12 6-8 35

ROCHESTER (55) (6-7, 2-3)

Carson Paulik 4 0-0 10, Brady Coleman 1 5-7 8, Liam Spence 3 1-2 8, Jack Reffett 1 0-0 2, Jonas Kiser 7 0-0 14, Aiden Wilson 0 0-0 0, Mitchell Clark 0 2-4 2, Ashton Musselman 0 0-0 0, Parker Casper 1 0-0 2, Alex Chapman 1 0-0 2, Conner Dunfee 0 0-0 0, Grant Clark 2 3-6 7

TEAM: 20 11-19 55

Three-point field goals:

Northfield 5 (Floor 3, L. Holmes 2),

Rochester 4 (Paulik 2, Coleman, Spence)

Total fouls: Northfield 14, Rochester 15

Turnovers: Northfield 22, Rochester 10

Score by quarters

Northfield 10 3 10 12 – 35

Rochester 14 17 11 13 – 55

JV: Rochester 60, Northfield 23