2A/1A Prep Girls Basketball: Brown nets 23 for R.A. Long in tussle with Castle Rock
Bring the Ruckus — Lumberjills out-muscle Rockets 42-33 in rough and tumble tilt
Jordan Nailon / blastzonenews@gmail.com
There was a wrestling match at The Lumberdome on Monday night but there wasn’t a certified grappler anywhere in sight. Instead, an early season non-league girls basketball game between R.A. Long and Castle Rock rapidly turned into a Smackdown extravaganza with both teams putting elbows and knees to the test on Joe Moses Court.
Fifty-five turnovers, four quarters and one undiagnosed concussion later it was the Lumberjills who’d emerged with a 42-33 victory. However, it took several near knockout blows before the hosts were able to enjoy any breathing room at all.
An undeniably scrappy and spirited affair would have turned into a slog at the free throw line had every foul that was committed had been called. Instead, the officials mostly swallowed their whistles and let the kids wrestle, or play, to their collective hearts’ content.
“I would say both teams were pretty aggressive,” R.A. Long senior Alauna Brown said. “We knew that we had to get the ball so any time there was a loose ball we were just hustling and diving on it.”
Brown scored a game-high 23 points to lead R.A. Long. She knocked down 8 of 17 shots from the floor, including a pair of 3-pointers that conjured not-so-distant memories of her brother, “Downtown” Lonnie Brown Jr., ripping the net with attempts launched from the vicinity of Commerce Avenue.
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