Parrish paces Rockland in huge road win at Sho-Ban

FORT HALL — The Sho-Ban Chiefs came into Saturday’s conference showdown with the Rockland Bulldogs riding high, after beating the North Gem Cowboys by 73 points two days ago.

For the first quarter, the Chiefs (7-4, 3-4) were up to the challenge, matching Rockland (14-2, 6-0) point for point. But things began to come apart for Sho-Ban when junior forward Sky CreeMedicine was forced to the bench with his team up one, after he was assessed his third first-quarter foul.

With a little more room to operate on offense, Rockland found a groove it had not been in all season, and they used it to run away with an 83-44 win, their 10th in a row.

“It was wild,” Rockland head coach Shae Neal said of the frenetically paced game played in front of a very large, very involved crowd.” I love coming to this place, the energy is great, all the fans are loud.”

The Bulldogs have hung their hat on defense, especially of late — holding opponents under 30 points in four of their last five games. But Sho-Ban’s “very fast-paced” style of play, as Neal described it, put a heightened value on offense. And the Rockland offense, which had been inconsistent for much of the season, got hot.

Combined, the Bulldogs made 10 3-pointers, four of those coming from senior Woodrow Lowder, who had been mired in a slump. As Neal pointed out, however, even while struggling, Lowder was finding ways to score between eight and 14 points every game.

“His slump is … it’s a good slump for most people,” Neal said of Lowder. “You see tonight, you leave him open and he’ll knock them down. It was a good breakout game for him.”

The guard finished the night with a game-high 24 points, to go with two rebounds and three steals. But he wasn’t the only Bulldog who went off.

Center Isaac Held scored 19 points while blocking one shot and swiping three steals. Point guard Xavier Parrish finished with 17 points, three rebounds, eight steals and numerous assists.

Parrish takes great pride in nights like Saturday, when he helps his teammates score. All five Rockland starters put up at least seven points.

“Outside of wins, assists are my favorite stat, so it feels good to distribute the ball,” he said. “And it feels good that the guys were hitting the shots. If all of our stars are scoring double-digits, we’re going to win games.”

While Lowder does the scoring and Parrish does the conducting, Held is tasked with being the presence in the middle for the Bulldogs. And he had his work cut out for him Saturday, matching up with the Chiefs’ 6-foot-6 center Maddox Edmo-Mcarther.

Edmo-Mcarther finished with 11 rebounds, but Held held his own, snagging a game-high 16 boards.

“That’s my job. All my teammates have our jobs, my job is to be the big man,” he said.

The senior also spoke about playing in front of a large and boisterous crowd in a small gym, saying that part of playing sports is using your own home-court advantage as precisely that, while drowning out the road noise.

“It’s all part of the game … let the fans be fans — you’ve just got to do your part,” he said.

The Sho-Ban crowd was loud all game, but it reached a fever pitch several times in the first quarter, when CreeMedicine and Kennion Martin were going back and forth with the Bulldogs.

CreeMedicine, though, picked up a second foul near the halfway mark of the first quarter. Head coach Pam Coby rolled the dice and left her star junior in. And just a couple minutes later, he had a third tacked on, sending him to the bench, essentially, for the remainder of the first half.

He finished with 10 points, 11 rebounds, one block and one steal. Martin scored six with one rebound, two blocks and one steal, all of which coming in the first before he was removed from the game and did not return.

Senior Kezo Coby picked up the slack, scoring 13 points and recording five steals. But once the Rockland onslaught started, the Chiefs could not muster a response.

After the game, Neal said that the team’s focus is entirely on team goals — a conference title, a district title and a state title. And performances like Saturday’s, with everyone getting involved, makes that goal all the more attainable.

The Bulldogs are back to work Tuesday, when they host Taylor’s Crossing (8-6, 4-2).

Sho-Ban will be back at home Thursday, hosting Grace Lutheran (10-3, 4-3).