Reffett’s 3-pointer hands Caston another heartbreaking loss

Kiser leads Rochester with 16; Harness has 18 for Comets

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Jack Reffett

The Rochester boys basketball team’s rollercoaster ride of a season continues.

First, there was the double-overtime win at Twin Lakes in which they trailed by eight points in the fourth quarter, got a Jonas Kiser buzzer beater to send it to overtime before winning in double overtime.

Then, there was a loss at Lewis Cass in which they led by eight in the fourth quarter before losing.

The season took another hairpin turn against visiting Caston at the RHS gym Tuesday. Jack Reffett hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds left in support of Kiser’s team-high 16 points as Rochester rallied from a 16-point deficit to pull out a 51-50 win.

Liam Spence added 12 points, and Reffett had 11 for the Zebras, who improved to 5-6.

“We got down 16 in the first half, and I was like, alright, let’s see what you got now,” Rochester first-year coach Luke Smith said. “You’ve got to string some stops together and little by little chip away at this thing. … Our guys just never quit tonight. So proud of them. To have their backs against the wall multiple times in the game, and they just kept coming.”

Carson Harness, who came in averaging 6.8 points per game, was nearly the hero for Caston. He scored a career-high 18 points, including two free throws with 19.8 seconds left that gave Caston a 50-48 lead. It marked the fourth time in his varsity career in which he had scored in double figures.

Logan Mollenkopf added 16, including two free throws with 2:13 left that gave the Comets a 48-46 lead.

Lane Hook, who came in averaging 17 ppg, was held to a season-low five.

Rochester improved to 5-6 in beating Caston for the fourth straight year. Caston dropped to 9-4. Their last two losses have been by identical 51-50 scores, and in both games, they made just 5 of 10 free throws.

In this game, they had more turnovers (six) than points (four) in the fourth quarter.

A reach-in foul on Clark sent Harness back to the line in the game’s waning seconds, and he converted both to put Caston back ahead. Reffett raced into the frontcourt and called timeout with 16.7 seconds left.

Sommers fouled twice and Harness fouled as Caston exhausted their fouls to give while draining 8.7 seconds off the clock.

Paulik then inbounded from the left sideline to Kiser with 8.0 seconds left. Kiser raced into the frontcourt and threw a pass from the left baseline to Spence in the right corner. Spence quickly passed to Reffett on his left.

Harness tried to contest, but Reffett’s shot hit nothing but net.

“I thought Cheese was going to shoot it,” Reffett said, referring to Spence by his nickname. “And then he caught the ball, and he was wide open, and he just passed it up. … I thought we were going to have to draw up a last-second shot, but I really had to trust in our coach. Coach told us to run the play. The play didn’t go very well, and then I just kind of threw it up and hoped it went in.”

Davis signaled for timeout. Time on the clock expired. Officials conferred and put 2.1 seconds back on the clock.

Davis put Gage Thomas in the game to make a long inbounds pass, but Kiser stole it and dribbled into the frontcourt as time expired.

“I told Liam, ‘I thought you were going to let it fly,’” Rochester coach Luke Smith said of the ball movement that led to Reffett’s game-winner. “Once you get the second 3 from the same spot, that’s the one you’re going to make, but for the unselfishness of our guys tonight, they moved the ball a lot better, I thought.”

Rochester trailed 27-11 in the second quarter, and they still trailed 46-34 after Hook deflected an inbounds pass off Spence’s leg, stole the ball on the ricochet and drove the other way for an uncontested layup with 1:24 left in the third quarter.

That was Caston’s final field goal.

“I thought probably early in the second half, we probably settled for some shots instead of working it in,” Davis said. “I thought Rochester did a really good job of shutting things off inside and making sure there were bodies everywhere when we did get the ball inside, bringing guys from different angles. When you’re not hitting shots from the outside, that hurts.

“I thought we did some good things defensively in the first half. Then in the second half, it was like we had to get restarted. We just gave them too many easy looks in that third quarter to give them the opportunity to get back in. In the second half, in the fourth quarter specifically, we didn’t do a great job of moving the basketball, and we were a little hesitant, and part of that is the physicality that Rochester brought to the game, and that’s a testament to them and the way they played tonight. They basically shut off any second-chance opportunities that we had.”

Rochester followed with a 12-0 run covering the third and fourth quarters. Mitchell Clark hit a short jumper in the lane off a Spence assist, and Spence drove to the rim for a reverse layup.

Kiser split a pair of free throws with 7:13 left, and Spence hit a feathery fadeaway over Hook. Then came a driving layup from Kiser.

Liam Spence stole the ball from Harness after he picked up his dribble from 25 feet out. On the other end, a skip pass from Clark found its way to Carson Paulik, who drained a left side triple while Kiser walled off Gavin Mollenkopf with a screen.

The game was tied. Mollenkopf’s free throws put Caston back ahead.

A Hook blocked shot on Brady Coleman got the ball back for the Comets, but Logan Mollenkopf missed two free throws with 1:36 left.

Spence missed a 3 from the right corner. Reed Sommers rebounded and sped into the frontcourt but Reffett came back to steal Sommers’ pass on what appeared to be a two-on-one break.

Spence then found Reffett in the lane with a bounce pass, and he hit a 13-foot fadeaway to tie it at 48 with 52 seconds left.

“It means a lot,” Reffett said. “We really let one slip away with Lewis Cass. And I went to Caston in sixth grade. So I knew all the kids. It’s always fun to beat them.”

Reffett praised Smith for helping him improve, first as an assistant coach and now as a head coach.

“Over the four years I’ve been in high school, Luke’s really changed my game,” Reffett said. “I’ve worked with him since freshman year on shots, shot-making ability and defensive stuff. Luke’s an awesome guy. I love playing for him. I’m super happy he got the job.”

Rochester won the JV game 57-24 behind Linden Wilburn’s 17 points.

Tucker Long led Caston with five.

Rochester 51, Caston 50

CASTON (50) (9-4)

Reed Sommers 2 0-0 4, Carson Harness 6 3-4 18, Logan Mollenkopf 6 2-4 16, Gavin Mollenkopf 2 0-0 4, Lane Hook 2 0-2 5, Owen Chapman 1 0-0 3, Gage Thomas 0 0-0 0, Brodie Howard 0 0-0 0

TEAM: 19 5-10 50

ROCHESTER (51) (5-6)

Carson Paulik 2 0-0 6, Brady Coleman 0 0-0 0, Liam Spence 6 0-0 12, Jack Reffett 5 0-0 11, Jonas Kiser 7 2-3 16, Mitchell Clark 2 0-2 4, Conner Dunfee 0 0-0 0, Grant Clark 1 0-0 2

TEAM: 23 2-5 51

Three-point field goals:

Caston 7 (Harness 3, L. Mollenkopf 2, Hook, Chapman),

Rochester 3 (Paulik 2, Reffett)

Total fouls: Caston 10, Rochester 15

Turnovers: Caston 18, Rochester 17

Score by quarters

Caston 20 14 12 4 – 50

Rochester 9 17 12 13 – 51

JV: Rochester 57, Caston 24