Mixed results for Rockets

By MIKE KILROY Eagle Staff Writer

February 13, 2010 Last Updated: February 13, 2010 11:39 AM High School

Slippery Rock High's Ryan Gordon bolts past Sharon's Lewis Brown in the Rockets boys 79-78 victory that took three overtimes.

SR boys top Sharon in 3 OTs; girls tumble to 13-point loss

SLIPPERY ROCK — Ryan Gordon pumped his fist in jubilance as his Slippery Rock High teammates mobbed him.

His fade-away, acrobatic jumper with three seconds left in the third overtime period gave the Rockets a 79-78 win over visiting Sharon in the raucous Rock Box Friday night.

Most importantly, it kept Slippery Rock alive for a District 10 playoff spot.

Even survival expert Bear Grylls would have been impressed with the Rockets' refusal to perish.

"Survival is a good word," said Slippery Rock coach Phil Bushre. "Everyone is in that mode right now. This was really a testimony to these guys. They weren't ready or willing to give up."

But there were plenty of chances to wave the white flag.

Slippery Rock (8-10, 3-7) fell behind big early in the game and again in the third quarter, when Sharon hit a barrage of 3-pointers on the way to a 29-point period.

But the Rockets responded each time.

"I was very proud of the guys," said Gordon, who led all scorers with 34 points.

Slippery Rock used an 11-2 run to get back into the game early and a 10-0 run late to help force overtime.

"Games are runs and lulls," Bushre said. "It's usually the team that can survive them in the end and hits the big, clutch shots (that wins)."

That team was the Rockets.

Brian Gielser, who scored 26 points, put Slippery Rock ahead in the third overtime with a 3-pointer before Sharon (6-14, 5-7) answered with a pair of baskets with less than 90 seconds remaining.

That set the stage for the hobbled Gordon, who left earlier in the third overtime with back spasms.

He returned just in time to be in position to hit the game-winner and to keep the Rockets' season on life support.

"It's one I will remember for a long time," Gordon said.

Now Slippery Rock faces two more must-win games: one at Farrell Saturday and another against Grove City at home Tuesday.

"We understand the challenge and the task that is ahead of us," Bushre said. "We still have a couple of breaths."

Even good teams lose every once in awhile.That was the message sent by Slippery Rock girls basketball coach Adrienne Orris to her team after a 74-61 home loss to Sharon."We gave up too many points tonight to win," Orris said. "We didn't get enough stops."The Rockets (17-2, 11-1) had a sluggish start, but they appeared to right themselves with an 18-3 run to take the lead at the half.Slippery Rock led by as many as seven points early in the second half, but Sharon (16-3, 9-3) stormed back behind Brittany Benedito to take the lead for good early in the fourth quarter.Benedito scored 29 points for the Tigers.Kourtney Rhoads scored 22 points and Karly Rhoads had 20 for Slippery Rock, which lost for the first time since a 10-point defeat to Hopewell Dec. 17."We have some things to work on," Orris said.GirlsSHARON 74Annie Carpenter 2-7 5-6 11, Brittany Johnson 1-2 2-4 4, Brittany Benedetto 10-25 9-9 29, Karlesia Edwards 5-17 3-4 13, Kristen Johnson 5-9 4-5 14, Marketta Jackson 0-1 0-0 0, Mackenzie Black 1-1 0-0 3, Kendra Ham 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 24-62 23-28 74.SLIPPERY ROCK 61Karly Rhoads 8-12 3-5 20, Ali Doyle 2-5 1-2 6, Kourtney Rhoads 8-19 2-2 22, Adele Campbell 1-6 2-4 4, Sarah Cessar 3-5 0-0 7, Taylor Crocker 0-3 0-0 0, Morgan Siebka 1-2 0-0 2, Bre Northcott 0-5 0-0 0. Totals: 23-57 8-13 61.Sharon 23 10 15 26—74Slippery Rock 15 20 13 13—613-point goals: Sharon 3 (Carpenter 2, Black); Slippery Rock 7 (Ka. Rhoads, Doyle, Ko. Rhoads 4, Cessar).Monday: Grove City at Slippery RockBoysSHARON 78Khalil Hopson 5-7 1-2 13, London Sanders 0-3 0-0 0, Vandall Spicer 0-2 1-2 1, Lewis Brown 7-29 6-7 26, Marlin Sanders 4-9 2-4 10, Sam Schweiss 5-11 2-3 12, Dantae Barnes 6-9 0-0 17, Kaussam Ismail 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 27-70 12-18 78.SLIPPERY ROCK 79Brent Ayers 1-4 2-2 4, Justin Bennett 1-1 0-0 2, Ryan Gordon 13-25 3-5 34, Alec McDeavitt 2-8 0-1 4, Brian Giesler 7-19 8-11 26, Sean White 0-1 0-0 0, Kevin Rummell 1-1 0-1 2, Caleb Whitney 0-0 7-10 7, Ryan Thompson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 25-59 20-30 79.Sharon 13 8 29 15 7 2 4—78Slippery Rock 14 12 19 20 7 2 5—793-point goals: Sharon 10 (Hopson 2, Brown 3, Barnes 5); Slippery Rock 9 (Gordon 5, Giesler 4).Saturday: Slippery Rock at Farrell