The Rochester Rockets will head out to face off against the Columbia Eagles at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.
Rochester is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They blew past Maroa-Forsyth 79-54 on Wednesday. Given the Rockets' advantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 119th, while the Trojans are ranked 387th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Jack Melton went supernova for Rochester, going 6-for-8 from beyond the arc on his way to 22 points. Melton continues to improve, besting his previous point total in each of the last three games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Khordell Gregory, who posted ten points and five steals.
Rochester smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive boards. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their offensive rebound total in four consecutive games.
Meanwhile, everything came up roses for Columbia against Meridian on Thursday as the team secured an 84-51 victory. The Eagles have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 14 matchups by 23 points or more this season.
Rochester better focus on containing Brody Landgraf and Eddie Smajic as the pair were huge in Columbia's win. Landgraf earned 21 points, while Smajic scored 19 points. Smajic's evening made it three games in a row in which he has scored at least 15 points. Micah James was another key player, putting up 11 points.
Columbia is on a roll lately: they've won 13 of their last 15 contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 24-6 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 65.9 points over those games. Rochester's record is now 18-10.
Rochester ended up a good deal behind Columbia in their previous meeting back in February of 2024, losing 59-45. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Columbia's Sam Donald, who dropped a double-double with 31 points and ten rebounds. Now that Rochester knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
