Basketball Recap: Roosevelt Proves Higher State Rank Is No Mistake

Roosevelt's tournament run continued when they took on Hillside on Saturday. The Roosevelt Roughriders managed a 74-68 victory over the Hillside Hornets. Given the Roughriders' advantage in MaxPreps' basketball rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked eighth in District of Columbia, while the Hornets are ranked 169th in North Carolina), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Gabriel Hudgens was his usual excellent self, going 5 for 9 on his way to 14 points in addition to seven steals and six assists. That's the most steals he has posted since back in February of 2024. The team also got some help courtesy of De'Marean Frazier, who posted 12 points and four steals.

Several Hornets players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Brendon Watley, who had 20 points. Watley continues to improve, besting his previous point total in each of the last four games he's played. Justin Morgan was another key player, putting up 19 points.

Roosevelt is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five games, which provided a nice bump to their 10-4 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 77.6 points per game. As for Hillside, their loss dropped their record down to 6-6.

Roosevelt wasted no time getting back out on the court and has already played their next contest, a 66-60 defeat against Coolidge on the 3rd. As for Hillside, they will have a little extra prep time after the loss as they won't be playing again for a while. They'll take on Riverside-Durham at 8:00 p.m. on January 10th.