After their game was rained out Tuesday, the Rockdale and Heritage boys' basketball teams got back on the court Wednesday, but it continued to rain - this time 3-pointers.
Rockdale made 15 long-range shots and defeated its cross-town rivals 87-56 on Wednesday.
The game was pushed back a day after Rockdale's gym sprung a leak Tuesday during the girls game. The girls did not get to make up their game. However, when the boys had their shot, Rockdale took advantage early.
The Bulldogs jumped out to a 9-2 lead, led by two 3's from C.J. Wilson and another from Charles Moore.
"We had a strong start offensively," Rockdale coach Alvin Williams said. "But I don't think we got accomplished defensively what I wanted to defensively. That was one of our poorest performances defensively."
The Bulldogs were outmanned on the boards with Heritage controlling the rebounding game. But after Rockdale led 24-13 after the first quarter, the Patriots could not catch up.
A big reason for that was the 3-ball. The long-distance theme continued for Wilson and Moore as the two combined for 12 3-pionters. Moore, who scored 26 points, made seven 3-pointers, and Wilson, who scored 20 points, had five 3-pointers.
"Traditionally Heritage plays a zone defense," Williams said. "Since move the ball and shoot the ball that way, that doesn't work against our team."
After jumping out to a big first quarter, Rockdale settled down after that, outscoring Heritage 18-14 in the second. The Patriots opened the period on a 7-3 run.
Pulling within seven, 27-20, Heritage couldn't get any closer as Rockdale answered with a 9-4 run.
The Bulldogs led 42-26 at halftime, and wouldn't have their lead threatened the rest of the way.
Mark Wilkerson paced Heritage with 18 points and Steven Everson added 11 but it wouldn't be enough as Rockdale led 60-40 heading into the final quarter.
The Patriots couldn't make any headway in the final period as Rockdale emptied its bench thanks to Jamal Turner. Turner scored all 10 of his points in the fourth quarter, including two 3-pointers.
Despite the big victory, Williams wasn't completely satisfied with his teams performance.
"We had four keys I wanted to get accomplished, and we only accomplished one of them." Williams said. "I know we won the game, but I really wasn't looking at the scoreboard."
Rockdale will face Salem on Friday, offering what should be a bigger challenge.
"Salem is very good,' Williams said. "I'm very impressed with them. I think this is the best team they've had since I've been at Rockdale, and I think the coach is doing the best coaching job since I've been at Rockdale.
"It's going to be an exciting game Friday."
