On Tuesday at Blue Springs South High School, the cross-town rivals of Rock Bridge and Hickman were slated to play each other in the Class 6 District 7 tournament championship game.
Earlier this season, these two teams played at Rock Bridge, and unfortunately for Hickman, Rock Bridge had a great shooting day beating the Kewpies 62-46.
However, the tables were turned in this District Championship game.
Throughout the first quarter of the matchup, it was made apparent that Hickman’s team took notes from the first matchup, and they did great at limiting the Bruin’s scoring to zero points throughout the first two and a half minutes of the game.
Another thing that Hickman was able to do differently in this game was getting Brock Camp (11) active early on, scoring the first four points in the whole game and the first six for Hickman.
Brock’s matchup against Reese Minnic (11) of Rockbridge led to, and made very apparent, Brock’s success. Brock went to work early on and did not make Reese’s job easy. This defensive-oriented game would not cease, and the first quarter would end in a tie, 14-14.
The next quarter was the same way, and there was a large amount of very small lead changes by both teams. They would match each other’s moves and there were very few momentum shifts from either team.
However, a significant moment from this quarter, and the game, was when Langston Stroupe (12) of Hickman made a tough and-one to go up by two, and then he made the free throw to go up by three with a minute to go in the half. The half would finish with the Kewpies up by 2, 26-24.
These two teams are part of a fierce rivalry spanning many years. This was shown by three technical fouls being called in total (two to Hickman, and one to Rock Bridge). Rock Bridge’s technical was called on their team, and it was unclear what occurred. This foul occurred after the half ended, so Hickman was awarded two free throws and the possession at the beginning of the second half.
Josiah Griffith (12) of Hickman would take those free throws, and make both of them to gain the Kewpies a four-point lead without using any clock.
This third quarter was a deciding factor for this game and allowed the momentum to shift to the Kewpies. A deciding point of this quarter was when Langston Stroupe made a three-pointer for the Kewpies to go up by ten, halfway through the third quarter. They would keep their lead and end the quarter up 12, leaving the score at 49-37.
The fourth quarter would essentially follow the same plot as the previous quarter. However, the Bruins tried to mount a comeback and came very close, but it all came down to Hickman breaking their press, limiting turnovers, and making free throws when Rock Bridge fouled them to try and claw back.
This tactic didn’t work because both Langston and Isaiah Bonaparte (12) made clutch free throws to go up eight. This lead would almost hold on to the end, but Rock Bridge would limit it to a seven-point differential of 54-61.
The lead performers for both teams were Langston Stroupe who scored 22 points and Brock Camp with 17 points for Hickman. On the other side, the Bruins were led by two juniors: Reese Minnix with 14 points and Dylan Davis with 13 points.
This game was a great one, and Hickman had an incredible performance on offense and defense. This weekend, they will play Oak Park at Oak Park on Saturday at 4:00 p.m.
