Sacramento, Calif- A raucous and overwhelmingly partisan crowd of over 10,000 people turned out at Arco Arena in Sacramento Friday night to watch the Rocklin Thunder take on Eisenhower Eagles from Rialto for the California State Basketball Championship Division II . The Eagles cruised to the Championship with a 73-61 victory despite a loud Rocklin crowd on hand.
Early on, the Rocklin Thunder boys looked confident and grabbed control of the game jumping to a quick 8 point lead early in the first quarter as Eisenhower appeared a bit tentative and committed a few early turnovers. It didn’t last.
Over the course of the remaining three quarters Eisenhower proved why they deserved to take home the Championship. Although Rocklin had a large height advantage, it was Eisenhower grabbing the key offensive rebounds, running the floor on fast breaks and hitting the keys shots and free throws throughout the remaining three quarters. The Rocklin defense simply had no answer for Eisenhower’s high powered offense.
Andrew Bock led Eisenhower with 17 points joined by several players were in double figures. Brendan Lane led Rocklin with 27 points, 19 rebounds and 10 blocked shots, but with too many missed tips ins, close shots and little scoring help from his teammates, his incredible effort just couldn’t undo Eisenhower’s relentless intensity and consistency to bring the Rocklin Norcal Champs just one more victory to complete an historic year for Rocklin Thunder Boys Basketball team.
