Rockland, a town of around 240, has created a massive home court advantage

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ROCKLAND — It has been nearly three years since the Rockland boys’ basketball team suffered a home loss.

The girls’ team has lost just nine home games in that same stretch.

Rockland faithful pack the “Dog Pound” for every home basketball game, encouraging their Bulldogs to “Defend the Rock.” But how does a school, with a student body of roughly 150 students, from kindergarten to 12th grade, nestled in a tiny isolated community of just 240, create that home-court advantage?

According to boys’ head coach Shae Neal, the answer to that query is multi-faceted.

It all starts, Neal said, with the passion of community. Rockland natives, whether still local or not, show up en masse to support their team. Evidence of that opinion was obvious during last season’s state tournament, when both Rockland teams consistently had one of, if not the, largest cheering sections at every game.

The Rockland gym seats roughly a couple hundred, but it is standard for every seat to be taken, with dozens more standing around the bleachers with vocal cheers on their lips.

“Everybody’s just excited about basketball and the basketball season,” the coach said. “This is the Tuesday night fun — ‘let’s get to the gym, it’s Tuesday night, let’s go watch some Bulldogs.'”

However, the passionate fan base is just the beginning.

“It’s just an atmosphere. We’ve got the best court in the state — it looks real good,” Neal said. “It’s everything. We’ve got a band at the 1A level, you don’t see that very often.”

The players, Neal said, feed off of all that energy, which is why the Rockland boys’ team has won 27 straight home games — last losing, 45-41, to Camas County on Feb. 10, 2023.

In fact, the squad has won 48 of its last 49 home games and boasts a 70-13 home record since the start of the 2017-18 season.

The Bulldogs (8-2, 2-0) will play five of their remaining 11 regular-season games at home, where they are 4-0 this year, as they search for the program’s first state championship since 2022.

Head coach Jordan Black and the girls’ team (9-6, 3-1), though not as dominant at home, with a 5-2 record in Rockland, will play their final two games of the season in the friendly confines as they look to repeat as the queens of 1A.