Boys Hoops: Robinson Edges Langley in Shootout

Typically, when a high school team scores 86 points, the head coach is pleased. When the opposing team scores 80, however, the coach might have reason to be disappointed. Such was the case for Robinson head coach Brian Nelson Tuesday.

Robinson defeated the Langley Saxons 86-80 last night to improve to 2-1 early in the season, but Nelson admitted his Rams will be lucky to win many more games when giving up 80 points.

"It's defensive intensity — we didn't do a good job of that after the first quarter," Nelson said. "We had a decent couple minutes in the second half that turned the game for us late. We were fortunate that we were able to outscore them tonight."

Senior guard Mike Rice had an explosive first half, scoring 22 points (16 in the first quarter), to stake the Rams to a 30-15 lead. But after the first quarter the Rams struggled on D. The Rams went into halftime up 46-38.

Rice scored just six points in the second half, finishing with 28 points, his third straight 20-point game of the season, as Langley succeeded denying Rice the ball in the later stages of the game.

"I just tried to put the ball in the basket, find an open spot near the short corner," Rice said. "They were trapping me in the middle of the key, so I just tried looking for my open teammates."

"Give the defense credit," Nelson said. "They did a good job of taking away some of his easy touches. But give our other guys some credit for stepping up and making big shots."

Rice's teammates came through in the second half. Seniors Dan Lee and Brendan Murphy both finished with 17 points on the night. Lee scored 10 in the second half and Murphy added 12, knocking down two key 3-pointers.

"They're great shooters," Rice said. "They've been knocking down big threes all season and it's why we put them away in the fourth quarter."

Things weren't all positive for the Rams.

At the start of the second half Langley outscored Robinson 13-3 and take a 51-49 lead. The Rams tied it up on the next possession, but the Saxons then went on another run to go up 58-51.

The Rams scored the next eight points to take the lead at 59-58. After junior guard Robert Pillow hit a 3-pointer at the third quarter buzzer to put the Rams up 62-60, Robinson went on a 9-0 run to start the fourth to go up 71-60. From there, Robinson held the lead.

Senior guard Ian Evancho rounded out the double digit scorers for the Rams, finishing with 10 points, including a 3-pointer. The Rams hit six of their eight 3-pointers in the second half to key them to victory.

"Our on-ball defense was very poor tonight," Nelson said. "We gotta work on sliding our feet."

Robinson will play its next game at Fairfax High School this Friday at 7:30 p.m. in the second game of a girls-boys varsity doubleheader.