SOUTHGATE – It was rivalry night at Anderson High School when the boys basketball team welcomed in neighboring Wyandotte Roosevelt on Friday.
Anderson came into the night chasing their first win of the season, while Roosevelt was looking to make it a perfect week in league play after winning in dramatic fashion vs Allen Park on Jan 20.An advantage for the hosts after one quarter of play and a one-point game at the half gave spectators a Downriver League rival showdown before the visitors turned it around in the third quarter.
A big 12-0 run in the first four minutes of the second half set the tone for the visiting Bears en route to a 48-39 win over the hometown Titans.
It was another case of “rivalries over records” between the two programs, and Roosevelt head coach Benn Baker was cognizant of that heading into their rematch with Anderson.
“It’s a rivalry road game and always a tough one,” Baker said. “Southgate has been playing well and they’re competing. They have a four to five minute bad stretch and that’s kind of where you build the lead and that’s kind of how it went for us today.
“They hung around in the first half,” Baker continued. “We told (our team), ‘this is how you’re gonna get them if you’re gonna get them in the third quarter.’”
Early on, it was a 5-0 Roosevelt lead to kick things off before Anderson’s Kartier Tye got his night started. A triple just before the midway point of the opening quarter jump-started an eight-point first quarter for the junior to help give the hosts a 17-11 lead after one.
In the second quarter, the Bear’s defense got to work, allowing just four points from the hosts, while adding 11 of their own for the slim halftime lead.
Baker’s bunch came out strong in the second half, building up their largest of the evening at 13 points. Anderson, though, wasn’t giving up as they countered with a run of their own, 13-5 stretch after Vincent Iwuagwu’s three-pointer broke the third-quarter drought.
The two squads remained close in the final eight minutes, but an eight-point quarter from Andrew Massingill secured the win down the stretch. While they eventually found a groove offensively, it was the other end of the floor that Baker was encouraged with on Friday.
“Everything always plays off our defense,” Baker said. “When I took the job, I told people, ‘I’m gonna run a lot of sets,’ but I think of myself as a defensive coach because everything starts with defense.
“Our pressure and our press was getting to (Anderson) a little bit and creating some turnovers,” Baker added. “We were trapping harder, anticipating, and that’s really how the defense thrives is that anticipation and then to steal the pass instead of on the ball.”
Baker a year ago was in the same position as Anderson first-year head coach Stephen Draper, who said the game was a lot of fun and he is proud of how his guys competed throughout the night.
“We got some contributions from some guys that haven’t gotten a ton of minutes the last few games,” Draper said. “Jaeden (LaRowe) and (Landon) Kuntzman came out and played extremely hard and made big plays for us and rebounded at a really high level.
“I’m proud of the guys for focusing on some of the stuff that we’ve struggled with,” Draper continued. “They gave us a chance to win the game, especially if we shoot better from the free throw line.”
Massingill led all scorers with 13 points for Roosevelt. Zack Hoffman finished with nine and Andrew Briones tallied up eight.
Tye and Christopher Natera led Anderson with 11 points each and Iwuagwu chipped in eight.
Heading into the affair, the Titans prepared for the rivalry game the same as they would any other and, just as they have all season for Draper, played hard and engaged.
“They don’t seem like they’re burned out,” Draper said. “They’re not coming to practice disappointed or sad. I’m not either because they have great energy. They’ve worked hard and it’s not a group that’s giving up.
“I think the score in our last couple of games has gotten to the point it got to in the fourth quarter,” Draper added. “It was competitive for a good majority of the game. In this game we did a little bit better job in the fourth and kept it close and I think the score was representative.”
As both teams continue on in the second half of the DRL slate, Roosevelt is looking to prepare and rest heading into big matchups after frontloading their schedule before the Christmas break.
“That’s really nice,” Baker said. “Especially for the big gauntlet at the end of the season with Trentons and Woodhavens and Lincoln Parks so that we’ll have a lot of time to plan and prepare.
“I love where we’re at right now,” he continued. “I liked where we were at in the beginning, but we didn’t close games and that took us from a 9-5 start to a 5-9 start. (But) energy is great at practice now and the guys are really playing well, so I’m happy where we’re at.”
While Anderson continues their quest for the first win of the season, Draper said he can’t ask for anything more from his squad.
“It’s been a great group,” Draper said. “I don’t feel the need to do anything different in this game because I think this group worked pretty hard. I love games and I get hyped for games, but I genuinely enjoy being around this group at practice, before practice, after practice.”
UP NEXT
The Titans (0-13, 0-8 DRL) will hit the road next week with trips to Lincoln Park and to Taylor on Jan 27 and 29, respectively. Roosevelt (6-9, 4-6 DRL) meanwhile hopes to match a season-best three-game win streak when they travel to Taylor on Jan 27 before returning home to host Dearborn Edsel Ford two days later.
Photo gallery of Wyandotte Roosevelt vs Southgate Anderson in a DRL boys hoops matchup
