Boys basketball: Rockridge sinks Princeton with 3-point assault

GENESEO – The curtain has been dropped on the greatest basketball show at Princeton High School in years.

The Rockridge Rockets shot down the Tigers with 11 3-pointers on the way to a 64-46 victory to claim the Class 2A Orion Sectional championship Friday at Geneseo High School.

Jase Whiteman finished with 24 points, including four 3-pointers, as the Rockets made off with their second straight sectional championship.

“Tough loss,” Princeton senior Grady Thompson said. “I think we left it all out there. Shots just didn’t fall for us. They knocked down 3 after 3 after 3. That’s hard to beat.”

“It was a tough team we lost to today,” Princeton senior Teegan Davis said. “We battled our hearts out. Left it on the court. I can’t be more proud of all these guys. Look forward to seeing what they do in the future and really happy I got to do it with them.”

The Rockets (27-4) will play Rockford Lutheran (26-9) in the Sterling Supersectional at 7 p.m. Monday at Sterling’s Musgrove Fieldhouse. Lutheran beat Aurora Christian 65-58 in the Johnsburg Sectional final Friday.

“It’s incredible. The last time we won back-to-back sectionals was 2016 on my brother’s team,” Whiteman said. “It means a lot to beat Princeton. They’re a rival in the other [division]. They came ready to play. They’re a well-coached team. They’re a really good team and I think we just played better.”

Whiteman said the key was keeping it in a half-court game and slowing the fast-paced Tigers offense down.

“Princeton just wants to get out and run. We’re not like that,” he said. “We’re not as athletic as Princeton is. We just got to keep our composure, keep it in a half court, and I think that’s what we did, and we won.”

“We just didn’t get any momentum at all, and that’s a tribute to them slowing it down and dictating the pace,” Tigers coach Jason Smith said.

Thompson said, “They did a good job bumping our cutters, getting us out of stuff we like to do.”

Princeton got off to a good start, taking an 11-10 lead at the end of the first quarter on a Teegan Davis dunk off a back-door cut and assist from Bennett Williams.

But then Whiteman got hot. After missing his first two attempts in the first quarter, he dropped four straight 3-pointers in the second.

He had 14 points in the second quarter, leading the Rockets to a 17-6 quarter advantage and a 27-17 halftime lead.

“My coach gave me the green light,” Whiteman said. “I was out of rhythm that first quarter, but it doesn’t matter. I was still going to shoot.”

“He’s one of the best in the area,” Smith said. “He’s hitting 3s. They weren’t easy 3s. They weren’t wide open 3s. They were contested 3s. I mean that kid’s a good player.”

The Rockets scored the first eight points of the third quarter to open a 35-17 lead, settling for a 43-27 lead at quarter’s end.

Rockridge also was hot from the free-throw line, cashing in 10 of 10 charity tosses in a 10-0 run to go up 58-33 late in the fourth quarter to put the game away.

“They have a program established over there. All they do is win and definitely play sound basketball,” Smith said. “They execute so well. Hats off to them. Wish them nothing but the best of luck moving forward. That’s a good group over there that we lost to.”

“They’re a good team. Came out and played really well tonight,” Davis said.

Princeton bows out at 32-3, matching the school record for most wins in a season set by the 1954-55 Tigers team that placed fourth at state.

“It was a great season, something to be proud of,” Thompson said. “Something we’ll look back on way down the road … it’s my family.”

Senior Kolten Monroe led the Tigers with 11 points.

Thompson scored 10 points, all in the third quarter. Sophomore Noah LaPorte had nine points and Davis added seven.

In addition to Whiteman’s 24 points, Caleb Cunico had nine points and Landon Wheatley and Carson Klemme added eights points apiece for the Rockets, each connecting on two 3-pointers.

Smith got emotional talking about his seniors who lifted the program to great heights.

“They mean a lot to me and this program,” he said. “I could never thank them enough for what they did for this program and this community. I’ll be forever grateful. I wish them the best of luck, and I hope they succeed in whatever they want to do in life.”