By Joseph W. Gex II/Sports Writer

BAY ST. LOUIS —The Saint Stanislaus Rock-A-Chaws used stingy defense to thwart a pesky Presbyterian Christian offense to claim a 53-47 victory over the Bobcats and complete an unblemished 8-0 mark in Region 8-3A and earn the top seed in the upcoming region tournament next week. 

The Rocks (24-4, 8-0) scored first in the contest following the opening tip when Rafael Cohen raced down the court for the layup. After that, the Rocks settled in for a suffocating defensive effort especially when it was needed. 

The two squads would trade baskets throughout the first period of play and ended the period knotted at 11-11.

Jason Forte opened the second period with consecutive baskets to push the score to 15-11.

Rafael Cohen continued the push with a three-pointer and two layups as the Rocks had a 9-0 run to open the second frame and extend their lead to 22-11. 

The Bobcats (18-10, 6-2) ended the Rocks’ run when Pierce Case sank a shallow jump shot to make the score 22-13.

Forte would swish a three-pointer and Max Baria would have a layup to end the period and the Bobcats would add one more bucket to make the halftime score 27-15.

In the third period, the teams kept the game consistent as SSC enjoyed a 38-25 lead heading into the final frame. 

The Bobcats made a furious late rush in the game as they opened the fourth period with an 8-0 run highlighted by five points from Smith Stringer. 

Baria stopped the bleeding for the Rocks with a layup to make the score 44-38 with 4:09 left to play.

The Bobcats would get within three points twice the remainder of the way but could not get any closer.

SSC head coach Daniel Grieves commented, “Presbyterian Christian is a well-coached program top to bottom and we expected them to play and execute just as they did. However, we were able to play some effective defense that helped limit their opportunities and Rafael Cohen did a a great job executing our offense and distributing the ball. As we continue to develop, it is becoming a pick your poison for teams to seeing they want to limit our front court or back court which is forcing us to adapt to become successful. Now, we get ready for the division tournament and focus on the next step of the season.”

The Rocks were led by Rafael Cohen with 20 points followed by Max Baria and Jason Forte with 11 points each. The Bobcats were led by Smith Stringer with 18 points and Eli Walton with 12 points. 

The Region 8-3A tournament is being hosted by St. Patrick High School next week.