Last week the Rams played two games, adding two wins to the schedule. 

On Wednesday February 9, the Rams defeated the Salem Lions 65-36 in a rescheduled game. 

“Salem came out shooting the ball well and hit three three-pointers in the first quarter,” said Head Coach Dusty Cole. “Fletcher (Cole) and Isaac (Cornett-McBride) continued their solid play and both had six points a piece in the first quarter to keep us close. We trailed 15-14 after the first quarter.”

The three leading scorers for the Rams were Cornett-McBride with 18 points, Cole with 15 points, and senior John Moon with 11 points.

“We really tightened things on defense and only gave up 21 points in the final three quarters.  We mixed in a little bit of zone and full court pressure and did a great job of keeping Salem off balance,” said Cole. “Balanced scoring was a key in this game as 6 players scored in the second quarter and seven different players scored in the game.

Cole gives credit to his lead scorer for his outstanding performance.

“Isaac (Cornett-McBride) was terrific.  This was by far the best game of his career as he ended with 18 points and 17 rebounds,” said Cole. “We haven’t been doing as well as we would like on the glass and we have really challenged the kids to get better in that department.  Practices revolve around Rebounding and toughness and we are finally starting to see some improvements in those areas.  Seventeen rebounds in a game is a great individual effort.  When our bigs play as well as they did tonight, we are going to be really hard to beat.  Starting frontcourt had 35 points and over 20 rebounds between them. 

The Rams went six of eight at the three-point line. 

On Friday, the Rams went on to face the Orleans Bulldogs and came out with a win, 55-48. This win puts them 2-2 in PLAC.  

“Started off a little flat and Orleans jumped out 12-8 after the first quarter. We switched up our defense and made a couple of adjustments and really turned things around in the second quarter,” said Cole. “Fletcher (Cole) and Isaac (Cornett-McBride) both had eight points in the quarter and we outscored Orleans 18-6 in the quarter.”

The four leading scorers for the Rams were freshman Fletcher Cole with 18 points, junior Isaac Cornett-McBride with 16 points, and sophomores Trey Rominger and Andrew Kumpf with nine points each.

“[We] came out in the third and continued playing our solid defense. We were able to outscore them 11-9 in the quarter. Orleans made some really tough shots in the fourth quarter to close the gap, but we did a nice job hitting free throws down the stretch to keep them at bay,” said Cole. “Overall, it was a great effort by our guys. We played extremely hard and beat Orleans to loose balls and loose rebounds. We outrebounded them, and did a great job of attacking at the right times and getting points in the paint and at the free throw line.”

Cole had a lot to say about the overall effort of the team.

 “It was a solid team effort. I could go down the list and say lots of positive things about every player that played. Even the ones that didn’t play had great energy, enthusiasm, and body language,” said Cole.

Cole acknowledges his team’s effort to come out with a win.

“Fletcher was terrific and played like a veteran guard. Trey had some great moves and had a career high in assists. Isaac continued his great play with 16 points and  13 rebounds. John played terrific defense on their leading scorer. Andrew played hard and physical and gave us solid minutes inside. He ended with nine points and four rebounds. Caleb Jones provided us with great minutes off the bench and used his length to his advantage on the defensive end. Great win for us,” said Cole.