Following a narrow loss to the Bosco Braves, the Cubs looked to bounce back against the Long Beach Poly Jackrabbits in hopes of achieving third place in the Bosco Winter Classic.
Starting Cubs:
PG: John Belardi, #12 (6’3”, G, Jr.)
SG: Andre Parris, #13 (6’3”, G/F, Sr.)
SF: Jack Kresich, #10 (6’7”, F, Jr.)
PF: Remington Rofer, #35 (6’8”, F/C, Jr.)
C: Colby Brooks, #20 (6’7”, C, Sr.)
1st Quarter
The Cubs won the opening tip. The Jackrabbits got on the board first with one of two made free throws at the 7:27 mark. After a Cubs miss, Poly came back and got an and-one layup, leading 4-0 with seven minutes remaining. Grant Roquemore checked in for Brooks. Belardi answered with a three-point play of his own, putting the Cubs on the board with 6:46 left. Roquemore stole the ball and was sent to the stripe after a foul. He sank both free throws to give the Cubs a 5-4 lead with 6:42 to go. Belardi stole the ball and got another layup to put the Cubs up by three with 6:10 left. A charge taken by Rofer kept the momentum going for the Cubs, as Roquemore buried a jumper, putting the Cubs up 9-4 with 5:30 left. Uri Ferguson came in for Kresich at the 5:22 mark. Brooks got another layup, and the Cubs led by seven with 4:30 left. The 8-0 Cubs run was halted with a Jackrabbits layup at the 4:20 mark. Parris was fouled and made one of two free throws. The Cubs led 12-6. The Jackrabbits got rolling, going on a 7-0 run that ended with a three for the lead. Suddenly, Poly led 13-12 with 2:10 remaining. Brooks responded with a three and the Cubs regained the lead, 15-13, with 1:50 remaining. Shortly after, Christian Sucuveanu came in for Rofer. Once again, the Jackrabbits were fouled and made one of two free throws with 1:19 left. They began applying full-court press afterward. Brooks was fouled and made both free throws with under a minute remaining. The Jackrabbits answered with a layup at the 42-second mark. Brooks made a bad pass that resulted in a Jackrabbit jam to give them the lead with 19 seconds left.
Score: Jackrabbits 19, Cubs 18
2nd Quarter
The Jackrabbits opened the quarter with more free throws, sinking one of two to give themselves a two-point lead. Kresich’s layup tied the game at 19 with 7:10 to go. The Jackrabbits regained the lead with a layup at the 6:34 mark. Kresich was blocked on the following possession, but the Jackrabbits failed to score by blowing the layup. Jalen Cox’s layup tied the game again at 21 with six minutes to go. A pair of Poly free throws gave them a 23-21 lead with 5:35 remaining. A Dre trey gave the Cubs the lead with 4:30 left in the first half. Rofer got a steal, then the Jackrabbits stole it back and made a layup to take a 25-24 lead with 4:10 remaining. Cox was fouled and drilled both free throws. That was followed up with a Brooks three to give the Cubs a 29-25 lead with 3:37 left in the half. At the 3:04 mark, Parris got a block but was called for a foul. The Jackrabbits made both free throws. The three-point play by Brooks increased the Cubs lead to five, 32-27, with 2:21 left. A Poly player dunked on Brooks then landed awkwardly, causing a stoppage in play. The player, who sustained a hip injury, was helped off the floor. The Cubs led 32-29. Belardi’s three-point play made it a two-possession game in favor of the Cubs, who now led 35-29 with 1:04 left. The Jackrabbits made a layup at the 45-second mark. Belardi was back at it again with another layup that gave the Cubs a 37-31 lead with 23 seconds left. A pair of free throws by the Jackrabbits cut the Cubs lead to four, and Brooks missed a three at the buzzer.
Score: Cubs 37, Jackrabbits 33
In their last game, the Cubs had a dominant third quarter, led by Remington Rofer. They looked to replicate that coming out of the locker room.
3rd Quarter
The Cubs got the ball to begin the second half, but immediately turned it over to the Jackrabbits. Brooks blocked a Poly three-point attempt, but was called for a foul leading to three free throws. The Jackrabbits made two of three to come within two at the 7:48 mark. Another Dre trey gave the Cubs a five-point cushion, 40-35, with 7:26 left. The Cubs committed another foul, sending the Jackrabbits to the line with 6:48 left. They made both to cut the lead down to three. After a Brooks layup, the Jackrabbits answered with a three, and the score was 42-40 with around six minutes to go. Rofer’s three gave the Cubs another five-point lead with 5:55 remaining. The Jackrabbits responded with another layup at the 4:30 mark. Brooks’ putback jam put the Cubs up 47-42 with 4:11 remaining. Great Cub defense forced a Poly travel with 3:49 left, but the Cubs turned it back over. Belardi’s layup gave the Cubs a 49-42 lead with 2:50 to go in the third. Rofer took another charge on the next possession. The Jackrabbits got a steal and made a layup plus the foul, but missed the following free throw. The Cubs led 49-44 with 2:38 remaining. Ferguson was fouled at the 2:04 mark, and made both free throws to give the Cubs a 51-44 lead. Sucuveanu checked in for Rofer afterward. Poly buried a three to come within four with 1:43 left. They made one of two free throws with 1:27 left. The score stood at 51-48 favoring the Cubs. Cox missed both free throws, but the Cubs regained possession off of a Jackrabbits turnover. Sucuveanu was fouled with 1:14 remaining and made both free throws. The Cubs transition offense led to another Cox layup with 50 seconds left. On the ensuing possession, a Sucuveanu swat gave the Cubs the ball on the baseline, but they failed to score.
Score: Cubs 55, Jackrabbits 48
4th Quarter
Once again, the Cubs got possession to start the final frame. Out of the gate, Ferguson made a layup to increase the Cubs’ lead to nine, 57-48. G-Roq took the charge with 7:28 left, giving the Cubs another possession. Ferguson was sent to the line again, and made both of his free throws to give the Cubs a 59-48 lead. A Kresich steal led to Rofer being fouled and the Cubs entering the bonus. Rem missed both of his free throws. Cox’s stellar play off the bench continued, as he got an and-one layup to bring the deficit to 14, the largest of the game. The Cubs began utilizing full-court press that led to a Jackrabbits miss. Cox stole the ball and laid it in and the Cubs led 64-48 with 5:30 remaining. The Jackrabbits ended the Cubs 9-0 run with a layup at the 5:18 mark. They also made two free throws to cut the Cubs’ lead down to 12 with 4:53 to play. The Jackrabbits got a steal but missed the shot with 4:18 remaining. Two Brooks free throws put the deficit back to 14, and a Kresich layup increased it with 3:20 left. Trent “Triple T” Turner checked in for Uri with three minutes to play. Kresich finished the three-point play and the Cubs began to empty the bench, with Nick Green and Wyatt Freeark checking in for Brooks and Roquemore. The Cubs led 70-51 with 2:51 remaining. Dylan Tracy-Lindenbaum checked in for Brooks shortly after, and Jackson Treiger checked in for Rem. A Jackson jumper increased the Cubs’ lead to 21, 73-52, with 1:30 left. The Cubs gave up a concession layup to the Jackrabbits with 30 seconds to play. A DTL steal ended the game and sealed the Cubs win.
FINAL: Cubs 73, Jackrabbits 54
The Cubs finished third in the Bosco Winter Classic. Rofer and Brooks were named to the All-Tournament Team.
Cubs of the Game
The Cubs of the Game were Colby Brooks and Remington Rofer. On earning the honor, Rofer said, “It’s a great honor. I know a lot of great players that have played in this tournament and won it. I couldn’t have done this without my teammates. When it was my time to score, I stepped up. Some games I don’t score that much, some games I do.” Rofer added that he’ll score when the game is flowing. “I’m not going to force shots,” he continued. “I just do what my team needs for us to get the win.” As far as momentum, Rofer said the team needs to continue sharing the ball. Their bread and butter is offensive rebounding. “When the shot goes up, we’ve got to crash the boards and try to get every rebound possible. If we do that, we’re gonna be very successful.”
Brooks said, “We gotta put the CIF on notice man, don’t sleep on us.” Brooks said the team needs to continue to work on its offense. “Teams are having a more difficult job guarding us. On defense, we do really well. We can guard star players.” On seeing the new guys play, Brooks said, “It’s great minutes. Triple T and Jalen are getting good minutes. I love it, man. Getting better every single day.”
The Next Game
The Cubs welcome Central-Catholic High School from San Antonio, Texas, into California on Saturday, December 21, at 2:30 pm.