Bounce-back game for No. 10 Warhawks

SHEFFIELD – After having a couple of rough games as of late, Class 1A No. 10 West Fork needed the kind of game it got against Rockford on Friday, Jan. 15.

The Warhawks had their share of struggles in the first half, but got back their swagger in the second half on the way to a 70-37 win over the Warriors.

“We had a team bonding night the other night to try and get things back together,” senior all-stater Kayden Ames said. “We came out tonight and played really good defense, and not much happening there. We ended up playing better the second half.”

Coach Frank Schnoes had a similar take.

“I think this was the best defensive effort we’ve had,” Schnoes said. “I thought we played really good half-court defense. As the game went along, we started to get our shot back, the kids started getting a few steals and break-away baskets.”

Early on, the Warriors were out-rebounding West Fork, but a second-half resurgence changed that as the Warhawks finished with a 30-19 edge.

“Just box out, some of them were just that we forced them into an odd shot, off-balance and it took a weird bounce and we weren’t ready, weren’t expecting it to come off the rim so weirdly,” Ames said. “We’ve got a lot of games to make up, we’ve got four (this week) and probably four the week after that, too. We need to take care of ourselves and be locked in.”

Schnoes added, “We needed to come out well and show that we are better than we were in the last two ball games. Thankfully, we were able to do that tonight.

"It was a good win for us."

West Fork 70, Rockford 37

Rockford (5-7, x-x)– Kolton Lyman 3-8 0-0 6, Will Bushbaum 2-5 0-0 5, Justice Jones 6-10 2-4 16, Bryce Larson 0-7 1-2 1, Nicholas Staudt 0-0 0-0 0, Zach Ott 0-0 0-0 0, Adam Wyborny 1-2 0-0 3, Landen Arends 0-2 1-2 1, Nickolas Walker 0-2 0-0 0, Cory Marth 0-0 0-0 0, Justin Bushbaum 2-4 0-0 5. Totals 14-40 4-8 37.

West Fork (6-2, 6-0)– Kayden Ames 7-11 2-2 19, Jakob Washington 2-3 0-0 4, Ren Heimer 4-7 0-0 10, Cail Weaver 7-10 0-0 14, Joe Ingham 4-7 0-0 8, Noah Maske 2-3 0-0 5, Colin Martinek 1-1 2-4 4, Nate Hubka 1-2 0-0 2, Edison Caspers 2-4 0-0 4, Jason Meier 0-3 0-0 0, Michael Black 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 30-52 4-6 70.

Rockford     5   11   12     9      -   37

W. Fork      11   13   28   18      -   70

Three-point goals– Rock 5-19 (Jones 2-4, W. Bushbaum 1-2, Wyborny 1-2, J. Bushbaum 1-3, Walker 0-1, Larson 0-2, Lyman 0-5); WF 6-17 (Ames 3-7, Heimer 2-4, Maske 1-2, Washington 0-1, Hubka 0-1, Weaver 0-2). Rebounds– Rock 19 (Lyman 5, Larson 5, W. Bushbaum 2, Walker 2, Jones, Arends, Marth, J. Bushbaum); WF 30 (Ingham 8, Washington 4, Weaver 4, Meier 4, Heimer 3, Ames 2, Martinek 2, Black 2, Hubka). Assists– Rock 11 (Lyman 2, W. Bushbaum 2, Jones 2, Larson 2, Walker, J. Bushbaum); WF 27 (Washington 8, Ames 5, Heimer 4, Maske 4, Weaver 2, Caspers 2). Steals– Rock 4 (Jones 3, W. Bushbaum); WF 12 (Heimer 4, Weaver 3, Ames 2, Washington 2, Ingham). Blocks – Rock 1 (Arends); WF 2 (Hubka, Caspers). Total fouls – Rock 10, WF 12. Fouled out – None.