Ram boys earn first victory
Ogunfolu hits jumpers, scores 23 in Rockville's 71-62 win over Damascus on Friday
Rockville boys basketball coach G.J. Kissal wants perimeter shooting to be "the icing on the cake, not the cake," for center Zach Ogunfolu.
On Friday, the cake had all the ingredients.
Yes, Ogunfolu hit plenty of jump shots. But the 6-foot-4 senior did plenty of damage inside, finishing with 23 points and 11 rebounds in the Rams' 71-62 victory at Damascus.
"I'm a pretty big guy, so he likes me down inside," Ogunfolu said. "But I like shooting, too."
It was his midrange touch that accounted for his first four buckets, giving the Rams (1-3) a 4-point lead at the end of the first quarter. Mike Giroux hit a flurry of his own outside jumpers to help give Damascus a temporary advantage, but just before halftime, Ogunfolu nailed a wing 3-pointer and a long deuce to grab his team the lead back.
Then, he did the yeoman's work.
The Swarmin' Hornets (0-4) streaked out to a 40-35 lead thanks to several transition buckets, but the Rams countered with a 19-2 run. They were all over the boards in the decisive stretch, with Ogunfolu and 6-7 DeAndre Kelly (13 points, 10 rebounds) simply outreaching their undersized counterparts.
"We just couldn't get a rebound," said Damascus head coach Rick Riley. "But you know, we looked better tonight than our first three games. Mike Giroux had 21 tonight; I think he's like the eighth-leading scorer in the county. Our ball-handling needs to get better."
Damascus just needs more ball-handlers, actually. Guard Connor Frazier showed flashes of brilliance, scoring 18 points almost exclusively off dribble-penetration.
The Rams don't have a true point guard, but got a little help from everyone in their first victory of the season. Kelly, exclusively a post player last year, handled along with guards Ben Kane, Wayne Jackson and Rainer Tandaju (14 points).
"We needed this one," said Kissal. "I don't think we played great tonight but I think we played good enough."