Rock Bridge offense looking for more effective play.
LIBERTY — The Rock Bridge offense had a case of the Mondays after its bus left for the campus of William Jewell at 6:30 a.m.
It had enough, though, to defeat the Hickman Mills Cougars 36-27 on Monday morning in the consolation bracket of the Cardinal Division of the Bank Midwest/William Jewell Holiday Classic.
The Bruins held the Cougars to a Classic record for fewest points.
“We did a better job of rebounding today,” Rock Bridge coach Mark Scanlon said.
Both teams played solid defense.
“If you hold someone to 32 points, you should win,” Hickman Mills coach Dan Miller said.
The halftime score was 16-7 as the teams combined to shoot 29 percent.
The teams set a record for fewest points, breaking the mark set 13 years ago by one point.
Rock Bridge moved the ball around the perimeter all game looking for open shots running a more effective offense than Saturday night when it took poor shots.
“We practiced working on the offense yesterday during practice,” Rock Bridge sophomore Marco Brown said.
The Bruins started the game on a 7-1 run, but Hickman Mills hit a couple of field goals to end the first quarter at 7-5.
Rock Bridge went on a nine-point run to start the second quarter and held the Cougars to only two points in the second quarter.
“We didn’t adjust our offense to their defense,” Miller said.
Rock Bridge extended the lead to 22-12 with 3:30 left in the third quarter.
With about 31/2 minutes left, the Cougars went on a 13-2 run.
“I’m happy for the kids; we are going through a rocky stretch,” Scanlon said.