Rochester Adams Highlanders @ Oak Park Knights: Game Recap
Rochester Adams and Oak Park, The two schools are separated by a 26.1 mile drive that was taken by Rochester Adams Friday late-afternoon. Oak Park made the trip up to Rochester Adams when the two teams met earlier this season. Both contests came down to the wire. The first time these teams met, Oak Park won on the road 49-46. It was clear that Rochester Adams wanted vengeance. This game was full of young talent. Rochester Adams’ young roster is filled with seven underclassmen. The two Emerzian twins, Ethan Emerzian and Jake Emerzian are freshman shooters that have been contributing at this high level. Adams is also led by sophomores, Austin Ursuy, Peyton Prieskorn and high IQ guard, Zach Maynard. Ursuy is a strong big man on the block and Prieskorn is a lengthy left. Also contributing as a senior captain for the away team, Jack Jenkins. Jenkins is a strong lefty shooter who recently received an offer from Carthage College. Oak Park is led by sophomore big, Maliq Carr. Carr is a strong rim protector and post player. He also possesses versatility and is not afraid to pull it from deep. Despite the small crowd at this, this game did not lack excitement.
Oak Park opened up the game playing their strong pressure defense. Despite Oak Park being without Carr for the opening minutes, they gained an early 7-1 lead. But Adams was quick to answer. Ethan Emerzian showed his unselfish play by dropping dimes down low. He also showed his strong shooting touch with a three in the opening quarter. Ursuy showed his dominance down low by finishing on the block multiple times in the opening minutes. However, Oak Park was resilient. Everyone played a key role on the floor for them and they held a 15-12 lead after one.
Carr played limited minutes in this contest due to coming off a recent ankle injury. Carr still had an obvious limp and had to come out of the ball game due to pain but he pushed through. Because of Carr’s long wing span and size, he always makes an impact on the court regardless of if he’s scoring or not. Oak Park’s senior guard, LaMont Mason played well finishing in transition and helping his team out in the ball game. The first six minutes of this quarter was filled with tight rims for both squads. Oak Park rebounded well on the offensive end but had trouble finishing. The final minute of the quarter was filled with Carr having the hot hand. He drained a three and finished a nasty fast break lob. This six point lead was diminished to three as Ethan Emerzian drained a three from the volleyball line to bring the score to 27-24 in favor of the Oak Park Knights. Oak Park was led by Carr with nine points in the first half and Mason with six. For Adams, Emerzian had eight and Ursury contributed six all coming in the first.
The third quarter was opened with ANOTHER three from Emerzian which was quickly answered by an And-1 lay up for Mason. Emerzian handles himself very impressively on the court. He is very mature and he runs the Adams offense with a lot of composure. It’s too early to compare him to Rochester Adams alumnus and Toledo guard, Spencer Littleson but he will likely be a 1,000 scorer like him. As the quarter continued, fatigue was beginning to show for Adams but they kept on fighting. Oak Park held a 39-33 lead at the end of the third.
The speed, size, and depth of Oak Park looked to be too much for Adams as they doubled their lead to 12 points early in the fourth. Adams was gassed. Strong post play and ball movement continued for Oak Park as they rotated substitutions in and out like a revolving door. Ursuy had a big fourth for Adams scoring down low and finishing from the charity stripe. Adams continued to chip away at the deficit but the strong opening of the fourth for Oak Park was too much for Adams to overcome. As both teams emptied their benches, the impossible looked possible as Maynard buried a triple for Adams to bring the game to five points with 30 seconds left. Immediately after that, Oak Park cautiously put their starters back in to finish out the ball game. They finished the conference sweep and won the ball game with a score of 68-61. Oak Park was led by LaMont Mason with 15 points, Maliq Carr with 13 points, and Jeremiah Pettiway chipping in with 10. Ethan Emerzian led Rochester Adams with a game high, 20 points. Austin Ursuy and Jake Schuler added 15 and 10 points respectively.