Rockland rides stifling defense, distributed offense to season-opening win

ROCKLAND — The Rockland Bulldogs used a balanced scoring attack and suffocating defense to earn a season-opening home victory over the Murtaugh Red Devils Monday night.

The Bulldogs (1-0, 0-0) finished with a third-place trophy at last season’s state tournament, and look to improve on that success this year. They started that journey with an impressive 51-29 win over 2A Murtaugh (0-1, 0-0).

Rockland clamped the Red Devils from the tip, allowing just three points in the first quarter, and led 39-15 through three quarters of play — after erupting for 20 points of their own in the third.

What little offense came from the two teams in the first half was courtesy of Rockland’s senior guard Woodrow Lowder, who scored all of his game-high 12 points, of his team’s 19, before the break.

In the second half, senior Isaac Held and junior Brayzen Gibbs took over the scoring responsibilities, finishing with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Murtaugh was led by senior Broxton Widmier, who dropped eight points, all of which coming in the second half.

The Bulldogs will be back in action Friday night, when they face the host Panthers at Carey High School as part of the Carey Holiday Tournament. They will not be back at Rockland until Dec. 17, when they host Raft River.