Little easy for Bruins this time

JEFFERSON CITY — Thirty minutes before the District 10 semifinal game between the Rock Bridge Bruins and the Jefferson City Jays, the gym at Helias High School’s James L. Rackers Fieldhouse was still nearly empty.

The scoreboard wasn’t lit and all the lights in the gym weren’t even turned on yet.

Nevertheless, the dormant atmosphere didn’t stop the Bruins’ traveling student section from starting the first “Let’s go Bruins” chant of the night, attracting a combination of approving stares and disbelieving glares from the few people in the gym, depending on which team’s colors the person was wearing.

The Bruins needed all the support they could get from the fans that made the 30-mile trip to Jefferson City on Thursday in order to defeat the Jays 48-39 and advance to Saturday’s Class 5, District 10 championship game at 7 p.m. Saturday against Helias, which beat Hickman in the late semifinal game.

“Having an atmosphere like this is huge in close games,” Rock Bridge senior Erik Darkow said.

The game was a lot closer than the earlier regular season matchup between the teams, which resulted in a 61-21 Rock Bridge rout.

Rock Bridge (22-2) trailed 17-16 after the first quarter and entered the fourth quarter nursing a 32-29 lead.

“You always feel good when you blow a team out,” Rock Bridge senior Aron White said. “But you know the next time you play them, it’s not going to be the same game.”

The close nature of the game also didn’t surprise Rock Bridge senior Logan Gray.

“I expected it to be a lot different than last time,” Gray said. “It’s a different atmosphere in district play. I’d rather win them easy, though.”

A lot of the Bruins’ problems were a product of early foul trouble.

With 1:07 left in the first quarter, starters Jordan Dressler and Mike Petrik were both on the bench with two fouls, forcing the remaining Bruins to play more minutes than they are accustomed to.

“It’s tough playing the same five guys most of the game,” Darkow said. “You start getting tired out there. The experience we have though really helped us pull it out. We’ve been in this situation before.”

Rock Bridge coach Jim Scanlon

credited the Jays for making it a game that wasn’t decided until the closing minutes.

“It wasn’t about us. It was them,” Scanlon said, referring to the Jays (9-15). “They played hard and aggressive throughout the game. We haven’t had anybody do that to us this year.”