The Rockwood Rockets and the Ferndale Yellow Jackets will round out the year against one another at at 6:45 p.m. on Friday. Rockwood will come in still looking for their first win of the season.
Last Friday, Rockwood came up short against Meyersdale and fell 46-39. While the Rockets didn't get the win, they did start the game off strong, beating the Red Raiders 14-10 in the first quarter.
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the best came from Zander Ritenour, who went 6 for 13 on his way to 16 points in addition to three steals and three blocks. That was a full 41% of Rockwood's points, marking the third time in a row he's posted more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Isaac Foy, who put up 11 points and eight rebounds.
Meanwhile, Ferndale played a tough matchup on Thursday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They took a blow against Turkeyfoot Valley Area, falling 70-38. The contest marked the Yellow Jackets' lowest-scoring game so far this season.
Rockwood will have to contain Caleb Fenton as he made an impact in Ferndale's last game. He went 6 of 15 on his way to 17 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Joe Prave, who had six points along with six assists and five steals.
Even though they lost, Ferndale was working as a unit and finished the game with 12 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.
This is the second loss in a row for Ferndale and nudges their season record down to 3-3. As for Rockwood, their loss dropped their record down to 0-7.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Rockwood has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 24.6 boards per game. However, it's not like Ferndale struggles in that department as they've been averaging 26.2 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Rockwood came up short against Ferndale in their previous meeting back in December of 2023, falling 50-38. Can Rockwood avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
