BOYS BASKETBALL: Rochester has little resistance from Farmington
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
ROCHESTER HILLS — Rochester and Farmington conveniently share the same nickname, the Falcons. That was about the only similarity on the basketball court Friday night.
State-ranked Rochester pasted visiting Farmington to the tune of a 51-22 rout in an OAA crossover boys basketball contest.
Led by an experienced and towering array of players, Rochester moved to 2-0 on the season and won for the 23rd time in 24 games dating back to last season.
Kentucky-bound James Young, a 6-foot-6 senior guard, suffered through a cold 6-for-18 shooting night. Rochester made up for it with suffocating defense, pressing Farmington into 25 turnovers on the night and keeping the visitors from breaking the 20-point barrier until the final 45 seconds.
“The offense will come over time,” noted Rochester coach John Pleasant, who still returned six players from last season’s 21-2 team that tied a school record with 21 straight wins. “I don’t know if James will ever have a cold shooting night like that. The whole team shot poorly.”
Farmington was also held to a dismal 20.9 percent shooting (10-for-48 shooting night), with nine of its points coming in the fourth quarter after Rochester took out its regular rotation.
Young finished with a game-high 14 points, including four monstrous dunks, to go along with six rebounds, five steals, three blocked shots and three assists.
Arben Camaj, who stands 6-8, powered his way to six points, 10 rebounds and three more blocks on the inside. Junior forward Mike Murri canned nine points, 6-3 senior forward Manny Mendoza was a presence with five points and four rebounds and junior point guard had four points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals for Rochester.
The host Falcons were only 19-for-57 shooting (33.3 percent) but snared a 43-30 rebounding edge, swiped 18 passes and blocked six shots.
“What I did like was the way we played defense. We are doing things differently this season where we run different (defensive sets) and it is working,” offered Pleasant.
“We used a lot of guys tonight and I like our depth defensively. We have a lot of length with Arben and James and even Manny Mendoza. But we have a lot of quickness and on-the-ball defenders. Demetrius Magee is a very good on-the-ball defender, Jason Lee causes problems and Manny does a lot of the little things.”
Rochester opened with an 8-0 run before Farmington even knew what hit it and eventually the home-standing Falcons boasted a commanding 13-2 lead at the end of the first quarter. By halftime, the host Falcons were in complete control with a 31-6 advantage.
Rochester used its depth with 13 players reaching the court in the first half and 10 scored points in the contest. A total of 12 players grabbed at least one rebound.
Farmington, in the midst of a rebuilding campaign, was simply overmatched by the taller and superiorly athletic Falcons. Senior forward Valentino Kalaj finished with seven points and nine rebounds for Farmington.
To submit information to www.northoaklandsports.com, e-mail dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com. To advertise, e-mail advertising@northoaklandsports.com . Follow us on Twitter @LocalSportsFans and more than a dozen other social media networks.
FOR MORE BASKETBALL COVERAGE: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Basketball&x=13&y=12
Have photos or video of this event that you wish to share? E-mail pertinent information to www.northoaklandsports.com Senior Editor Dan Stickradt at dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com or e-mail results@northoaklandsports.com.
Category: Featured Articles, High School, High School (M-Z), Prep Wraps
