Aiming to build momentum for the postseason, the Macomb High boys basketball team fell flat Friday night in a 53-47 loss to rival Monmouth-Roseville at The Hangar.
Trailing 31-23 three minutes into the second half, the Titans responded with a 21-2 run over the next eight minutes to take control and never let go.
Macomb finished the regular season with a final record of 20-10. Monmouth- Roseville improved to 12-17 in winning its regular season finale.
The two teams had squared off at The Shoebox in Monmouth on Jan. 17 with the Bombers winning 59-48.
And when Isaac Leinbach’s layup gave Macomb a 31-23 lead three minutes into the second half, it looked as though the Bombers were on their way.
That’s when MRHS coach Chuck Grant called a timeout.
“During the timeout, we said ‘Let’s get something in transition. Let’s get some quick hits if we can,’” said Grant. “We tried it. We started slipping a few guys once we had the possession. We got a couple of finishes off of that.”
“The rest of that was just really good passing,” he added.
Clay Casteel knocked down a 3-pointer for the Titans before Justin Elbe’s basket at the 4:26 mark pushed the lead back to 33-26.
But the Bombers then went more than eight minutes without scoring.
By the time Elbe scored with 4:19 left, the Bombers trailed 44-35.
MRHS closed the third quarter with a 7-0 run that included a Lars Bergren trey and a Cee Sarcomo layup that knotted the contest at 33-33 entering the final eight minutes.
“One of the things we’ve got to do a little better job of is being a little bit more disciplined defensively,” said Macomb coach Jeremy Anderson. “I thought we took some unnecessary chances at times and left guys open. And (Monmouth-Roseville) made us pay for that.”
An Elliott Rogers basket 15 seconds into the final period gave the Titans the lead for good.
Sarcomo followed with a pair of layups, while Rogers added a pair of free throws.
Casteel’s second 3-pointer of the half capped the extended run that gave MRHS a 44-33 lead with 4:55 to go.
The Bombers got no closer than six points the remainder of the contest.
“You’ve just got to keep playing,” said Grant. “And that’s what these kids have done. They’ve kept playing and they’ve played hard.”
“I love these kids,” he added. “They’ve just kept fighting and battling. They refuse to go down.”
“We have to make sure that we stay on schedule both offensively and defensively,” said Anderson. “We can’t let teams spread us out because that’s really not part of our repertoire.”
“We have to make it a halfcourt grind game and then execute at both ends if we want to be successful,” he added.
The Bombers did just that in the opening half.
After Nolan Hoge and Drew Watson combined for all 11 points in the opening quarter for the Bombers, Elbe made his presence felt inside, scoring 11 points in the second period as MHS led 25-23 at the break.
“We were a little late on our doubles with (Elbe),” said Grant. “But even when we weren’t, he did a nice job of finishing through the contact.”
“Our guys did a really nice job of finding him,” said Anderson of Elbe. “And he was going up confident and aggressive.”
“We also had some chances in the second half, but Monmouth-Roseville made a good defensive adjustment,” he added. “So we have to be ready to look for our next option, which is for our guards to be ready to knock down some shots off that.”
But Macomb managed just three baskets in the final period, two by Elbe.
“The last 10-12 minutes, I thought we defended really well,” said Grant. “There’s a lot of stuff to guard with (Macomb). Once in a while, they’re going to get theirs.”
Elbe topped Macomb with 17 points, all in the final three quarters.
Watson and Hoge added 11 points each for MHS, while Leinbach chipped in four and Carter Havens two for the Bombers.
Macomb will head to regional play Wednesday at Tri-Valley H.S. in Downs.
MHS, the No. 5 sub-sectional seed, will face No. 4 seed Bloomington Central Catholic (19-12) in the second semifinal.
“I think you have to go with what you did well,” said Anderson. “The possessions that we made them set up their stuff, I thought we guarded them relatively well. We can use that as motivation.”
“Offensively, we can use the fact that we were able to get the ball down inside and Nick’s going to be a good, viable scoring option,” he added. “I think that will open up opportunities for other guys if we can execute our stuff.”
The regional began Monday with Tri-Valley (1413), the No. 9 sub-sectional seed, playing at No. 8 seed Peoria Christian (20-7).
Wednesday’s first semifinal will see top seed Peoria Manual (18-9) facing Monday’s winner.
Wednesday’s victors will meet for the regional title Friday.
Bergren topped Monmouth- Roseville with 15 points, 10 in the opening half. Kaden Russell added 12 points and Casteel nine for the Titans.
Monmouth-Roseville is playing in the Farmington Regional that began with Monday’s opening round game between No. 9 sub-sectional seed Princeton (5-25) at No. 8 Monmouth-Roseville.
Wednesday’s semifinals at Farmington will have top-seeded Sherrard (21-7) facing Monday’s winner before No. 4 seed Farmington (15-13) plays No. 5 seed Kewanee High (14-17).
The title game is set for Friday at 7 p.m.
The JV contest saw Monmouth-Roseville defeat Macomb for the second time this season, recording a 41-31 victory.
The Titans won the previous meeting 40-34 at Monmouth back on Jan. 17.
Friday’s rematch saw the Bombers lead 9-5 after the opening period.
But the Titans outscored the hosts in each of the final three quarters.
MRHS trailed 15-14 at halftime before outscoring the Bombers 16-8 in the third frame in taking a 30-23 lead into the final eight minutes.
The Titans outscored Macomb 11-8 in the last stanza to close out the win.
Luke Chapla topped Macomb with 10 points as the Bombers finished the season with a final record of 15-12.
Corey Robinson added eight points, followed by Levi Helling with six points.
Cameron Keene added five points and Carter VanVleet two for MHS.
Rogan Rexroat topped Monmouth-Roseville with 13 points, including three 3-pointers.
Kane Johnson and Jake Skrivseth added nine points each for the Titans.
