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Reinartz scores 19, McCarter scores 7 in 4th quarter
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
FULTON –- Rochester boys basketball coach Rob Malchow did not like the way his team’s man-to-man defense was playing against host Caston at the Comet Crater Tuesday.
So he went back to a 2-3 zone and saw his defense smother yet another opponent.
It also helped to have Kyle Reinartz, who scored eight of his game-high 19 points in the fourth quarter as the Zebras pulled away to win 41-29.
Jake Paschen hit three consecutive 3-pointers in the second quarter and led Caston with nine. But the 29 points were a season low and the fewest for a Caston team since a 57-28 loss to Winamac on Feb. 19, 2019.
Meanwhile, it marked the second time this year RHS has held an opponent under 30 points. Their yield of 35.4 points per game ranks No. 1 in the state.
Rochester improved to 8-1. Four of their wins – North Judson, Whitko, Tippecanoe Valley and Caston – have come against teams that beat them last year.
Joey Spin added seven points for Caston, who fell to 4-8.
Caston sharpshooter Kade Zeider, who hit seven 3-pointers and scored 21 points in his previous game against West Central, was held to one trey and three points.
That 3-pointer came with 3:16 left and cut the Rochester lead to 31-27.
Tarick McGlothin missed two free throws but later hit Reinartz twice for layups off dribble penetration.
Bryce Rudicel hit a tough layup over Blake Hughes with 1:11 left, but Reinartz and Grant McCarter combined to go for six for six from the foul line in the final minute to close the game out.
Caston led 24-21 on Spin’s double-pump jumper with 2:45 left in the third quarter, but RHS closed the game on a 20-5 run.
Rochester coach Rob Malchow switched from a man-to-man to a zone defense. The defense dedicated extra attention to Zeider with the 6-4 Reinartz often having a hand in his face.
“The man was terrible tonight,” Malchow said. “We had a 2-3 zone we played the whole first half. We held them to 15 points, so that worked out pretty good. Second half, we went to a 3-2 zone and did a really good job, and at the very end, we just spread out our 2-3 when they ended to shoot 3s. Overall, to hold a team to 29 .. an excellent job on those guys’ parts defensively.”
Offensively, McGlothin started the run with a 3-pointer from the right corner, and a Reinartz layup in the post put the Zebras ahead for good.
Caston stayed within 26-24 after three quarters by tagging and communicating to stay with McCarter in their switching man-to-man defense. Spin, Zeider and Rudicel all saw time on him.
But with 6:37 left, Reinartz found McCarter with a skip pass, who swished a 22-footer for 3 to give RHS a five-point lead. It was McCarter’s only field goal of the game.
“With the way we play defense, it’s always going to be a collective effort, and a lot of different guys could end up guarding him on the same possession,” Caston coach Carl Davis explained. “I thought our focus on him and taking away the 3-point line for him was outstanding. We talked in the locker room after (the game) that most nights you give up one 3 to somebody like that, man, it feels great. But his was so big and timely. It just pushed that lead up. That was a big shot, and it was the one time we kind of lost him all night, and he made us pay, and that’s what great shooters do.”
Meanwhile, while McGlothin didn’t score in the fourth quarter, he did have three assists to Reinartz.
“Offensively, we were having trouble scoring, and then in that last four minutes of the fourth quarter, we went to the 1-4 set, and Tarick just broke them down, and we got layup after layup and free throws and finally broke it open,” Malchow said.
McGlothin does not play AAU ball, but he said he has a facility at home. It’s a half-court with a hoop. He also said he has a treadmill, and he ran every day on it to improve his conditioning. He said his favorite part of basketball is finding his teammates for assists.
“I knew I had to dribble past people because I’m quicker, and I have to find open people,” McGlothin said. “It had to be done. … I love passing the ball to Kyle. He’s my go-to person on the block.”
Rochester started in a zone and jumped out to a 10-2 lead after one quarter. But Paschen hit three 3-pointers in the first 2:41 of the second quarter, and when Rudicel took a pass from the high post and drove in for a layup, Caston had their first lead at 13-12.
“Jake came in and gave us a big boost,” Davis said. “He’s a great shooter, and it was good to see him get going. I thought in the second half, especially after he hit those three 3s that Rochester did a really good job of taking him away and shading him that way in their zone and made it tough for him to get another open look. But it was great to see him get going tonight.”
A Reinartz 3-point play and a Reinartz dish to Hughes for a layup put RHS ahead 17-13 before Spin knocked down two free throws with 4.5 seconds left in the half to make it 17-15.
Buckets by Smith, Rock-Wolf and Spin in the first four minutes of the third quarter put Caston ahead 21-19 before a McGlothin driving layup tied the game again.
Rochester also won the JV game 47-38 behind Brock Bowers’ 14 points. Dryden Vance had 10, Robert Bozzo had eight, Colton Ferverda had six, Evan Elliott had five, and Luke Hunting had four.
Colby Pugh led the Caston JV with 17 points, and Cain Schanlaub added 12. Connor Sommers had five, and Adam Rush and Evan Howard had two each.
Rochester also won the “C” team game 37-34 behind Gavin Young’s 13 points. Thatcher Sampsel had six, Ferverda had five, Lucas Malchow had four, Eric Eikenberry had four, Eric Eikenberry had four, and Dylan Hook had one.
Caleb Stinson led the Caston “C” team with 14 points. Talon Zeider had eight, Alex Craig had six, and Grant Yadon and Carter Clingler had three each.
Rochester 41, Caston 29
ROCHESTER (41) (8-1)
Grant McCarter 1 4-4 7, Tarick McGlothin 3 0-2 8, Quin Stesiak 0 1-2 1, Kyle Reinartz 8 3-3 19, Blake Hughes 3 0-0 6, Trenton Reinholt 0 0-0 0, Aidan Smith 0 0-0 0
TEAM: 15 8-11 41
CASTON (29) (4-8)
Joey Spin 2 3-4 7, Kade Zeider 1 0-0 3, Bryce Rudicel 3 0-0 6, Jessie Rock-Wolf 1 0-0 2, Sam Smith 1 0-2 2, Cam Kline 0 0-0 0, Colby Pugh 0 0-0 0, Jake Paschen 3 0-0 9
TEAM: 11 3-6 29
Three-point field goals:
Rochester 3 (McGlothin 2, McCarter),
Caston 4 (Paschen 3, Zeider)
Total fouls: Rochester 7, Caston 12
Turnovers: Rochester 7, Caston 8
Score by quarters
Rochester 10 7 9 15 – 41
Caston 2 13 9 5 – 29
JV: Rochester 47, Caston 38
C: Rochester 37, Caston 34
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