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Fleming’s 25 Leads Rogers to Div. III Playoff Win

GAMES OF THE WEEK


Junior Max Newsome (5) attempts to block the shot of Mt. Hope sophomore Bruce McGuire. The Vikings’ Edwin Connelly (10) trails the play.

Junior Max Newsome (5) attempts to block the shot of Mt. Hope sophomore Bruce McGuire. The Vikings’ Edwin Connelly (10) trails the play.

The Rogers High boys basketball team turned tension into elation on March 3 by outmuscling and outhustling a scrappy Mt. Hope High team 70-52 in its first Div. III playoff game at home in years.

The first half was tight, with the emergence of a force named Jalen Kopecky. The second half was a rumble, with the emergence of a force named Roshawn Fleming, who finished with 25 points, leading all scorers.

Kopecky, Mt. Hope’s senior center, was a blunt instrument in the first half, scoring 15 of his team’s first 19 points with rumbling layups inside. For one half, the Vikings had no answer for him.

There were seven ties in the first half and eight lead changes. After ties at 14, 17, 19 and 21, Rogers head coach Mike Newsome brought in sixth man Bryan Robar, who gave the Vikings a tremendous boost of energy. Robar drilled two 3-pointers and added a layup for a quick eight points. He then set up Fleming on the first of two nifty layups, and the Vikings were up by four, a lead they would never relinquish.

Roshawn Fleming (11) drives past his Husky defender for two of his game-high 25 points.

Roshawn Fleming (11) drives past his Husky defender for two of his game-high 25 points.

The Vikings took a 27-21 lead into the dressing room. Newsome made some adjustments on defense in the second half and Rogers forced Mt. Hope to the perimeter. Kopecky couldn’t score at will anymore and, in fact, didn’t score for more than eight minutes.

But Fleming came out a house afire, dropping his first two shots in the second half. Mike Weaver and Darian Piker followed with baskets as the Vikings took control.

Virtually all of Mt. Hope’s second-half scoring was done by senior forward Jaden Siembab, who tallied 13 points, mostly on layups in Kopecky’s absence. But Fleming took over the game, stealing, shooting, rebounding and blocking shots.

“He played aggressively in the first half, and in the second half, he opened things up so Bryan could score and Max [Newsome] could score and Mike could score and Darian could score,” said Newsome. “In that second half, he really got himself going.”

Piker finished with 15 points, while Weaver and Newsome contributed nine apiece.

Darian Piker (30) lays one in in the first half. The Rogers sophomore guard had 12 of his 15 points in his team’s crucial second half against Mt. Hope.

Darian Piker (30) lays one in in the first half. The Rogers sophomore guard had 12 of his 15 points in his team’s crucial second half against Mt. Hope.

Rogers’ reward is a semi-final match up with the #1 seed, Lincoln, on Friday, March 6 at Cumberland High School. That semi tips off at 5:30 p.m. In the last game between these schools on Feb. 14, the Vikings defeated Lincoln in Newport, 60-43. Lincoln had been undefeated in D-III, before that game.

Should Rogers prevail against Lincoln, they would advance to the D-III final. That game is scheduled to tip at 2:15 p.m. on Sunday, Mar. 8 at a location yet to be determined at press time.

Photos by Jen Carter

Photos by Jen Carter

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