We headed to the coast to catch a quarter-final matchup in Class 5A between Rockledge, the #3 seed and visiting Miami Northwestern, the #6 seed.  Each won their respective district titles (13 and 16) but Rockledge’s higher FHSAA ranking gave them a home game.  Northwestern has quite the fan following and while it wasn’t a packed house, it was a very good crowd for a playoff game.

One of the top reasons for attending this contest was a chance to see with out own eyes Miami Northwestern’s talented 6’6 sophomore, Calvin Russell.  We didn’t get to see much of him in the first half as he drew a foul on the first play of the game, resulting in two made free throws by Rockledge and then was called for a charge on the Bulls’ first possession.  In all, Russell played the first forty seconds of the game and then sat out but the last two minutes of the half.  In the first quarter, Northwestern was able to overcome this.  Getting solid play from sophomores Jakeel Baker and Giovanny Desire as well as senior Myron Park, Northwestern was able to grab a 9-6 lead midway through the first period and led 13-11 after the first eight minutes.

Rockledge tied the game at 13-13 on the first possession of the second quarter.  From there, defenses stiffened, and points were hard to come by.  With just under three minutes left in the period, Northwestern got to within a point, 20-19.  Rockledge closed out the half with a 7-2 run, featuring back-to-back threes from seniors Ryan Blount and C.J. Kearns, to take a 27-21 lead into the break.

Russell returned to the court for Northwestern in the third quarter but his presence was of little impact.  Rockledge stretched its lead to nine at 33-24, forcing a Northwestern timeout with a little under five minutes left in the period.  Just before that, Russell was hit with his fourth personal foul and again returned to the bench.  Rockledge took advantage of his absence this time, finishing off the third period with a 9-4 run, increasing their margin to fourteen, 42-28, entering the final period of play.

It didn’t take long to realize that Northwestern’s lack of size and scoring power was going to keep them from getting over the hump to make the game into more of a contest.  It seemed the more the Bulls tried to force things to score, the more mistakes were made and the more Rockledge took advantage of those mistakes.  In the end, Rockledge won big, 62-36.  Due to TERRA Environmental’s huge road win at seconded seeded Stranahan, Rockledge will once again be home in the region semis to take on surprising TERRA.

Rockledge was paced by 6’1 junior Terrance Shannon with 17 points.  Blount, a 6’6 senior and Tampa recruit, finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds despite returning that day from a three-day bout with the flu.

For Rockledge, Baker led the way with nine points.  Russell was able to contribute seven points in his limited court time.