Woodward Academy rallies past C-M boys in season opener

COLFAX — Colfax-Mingo head boys basketball coach Mike Hunsberger and his coaching staff know what they have in three-year varsity starter Harrison Rhone. It’s the rest of the squad that the Tigerhawks are trying to figure out.

Rhone posted a double-double with 28 points in Colfax-Mingo’s season opener against Woodward Academy, but the rest of the team scored only 11 during a 44-39 non-conference home loss.

“It’s a product of graduating nine guys from last year’s team,” Hunsberger said. “Harrison is our only returning varsity player. We have freshmen, sophomores and older guys who haven’t been out for the sport in a few years. It’s going to be a year of building a foundation and trying to get better each time out.”

Colfax-Mingo led 11-10 after one quarter and took a 21-20 lead into halftime, but the Knights rallied with a big third and held off the Tigerhawks in the fourth.

The Tigerhawks were plagued by 25 percent shooting and 20 turnovers. They did make 11-of-17 from the free-throw line with Rhone connecting on 10-of-14. He also was 4-of-11 from 3-point range.

“He did take a step forward tonight,” Hunsberger said about Rhone. “He’ll continue to work at it, and we aren’t going to let up on him. We want to push him to be that player we know he can be. He knows he wants to clean up even more on defense. He can get better on that end of the floor.”

The first basket of the season for Colfax-Mingo came on a putback by Jace Lewis. And the hosts got a bucket from Shane Hostetter at the end of the quarter, but Rhone made two free throws, buried a jumper and connected from deep in the period.

Woodward Academy (0-1) went in front 15-11 after a 3-point play from Mykal Clark. Rhone pushed the Tigerhawks back into the lead with an individual 7-0 run.

Xavier Woods’ jumper late in the half gave Colfax-Mingo a 21-20 lead at halftime.

The Knights took control of the game with a fast start in the third. Ja’Quay Gardner sunk a fadeaway jumper and the visitors answered a Rhone 3 with a 9-0 run that featured a pair of layups from Chris Doe.

Rhone sunk another trey and connected on two free throws to close C-M’s deficit to two, but Woodward Academy ended the period with four straight, including a 3 from Juan Maldonado.

“(Rhone) is someone we can rely on, but we don’t want the others to just stand around and watch him play. They need to learn how to get involved.

“There was a lot of nerves tonight. We have a lot of guys who just need to calm down. We didn’t just not run the sets, we didn’t even get into them to run them.”

The Tigerhawks trailed by eight early in the fourth, but Rhone drilled five free throws and Gage Byal sunk an elbow jumper to close the gap to four. Then Chase Trotter’s 3-point play got C-M to within 40-39 with 2 minutes left.

Francis Manier got behind C-M’s full-court press and made a layup and then Doe converted a bank shot as the shot clock expired to give the Knights the five-point victory.

“We know we’re going to be at a disadvantage height-wise and with experience,” Hunsberger said. “We have to figure out the kind of effort we have to bring for the entire game. We need to be all about the details. If we can commit to those details, we can clean up a lot.

“The good thing for us is we don’t have to wait a week to play. We can come back tomorrow and find a way to get better. Hopefully we can build on each step.”

Rhone finished with a game-high 28 points and added 11 rebounds, two steals and two blocks.

Trotter and Wyatt Jay made their varsity debuts for C-M. Trotter finished with three points, four rebounds and three steals before fouling out and Jay grabbed eight boards off the bench.

Byal added three rebounds and three assists, Hostetter collected two rebounds and three steals and Isaiah Lewis pulled down three boards.

Woodward Academy was much more balanced at the offensive end. Doe led the Knights with 15 points, while Gardner added 13 and Clark chipped in eight.

“We just need to get the other guys calmed down so we can get into our sets,” Hunsberger said. “It’s hard right now. We just want them to play basketball, but their minds are in overdrive. They are so hyped and forget about the simple things.”