Rochester

Rochester High boys basketball makes history

By Christian Davis
C & G Sports Writer

» click to enlarge « Photo by Patricia O’Blenes Rochester High senior James Young goes up for a dunk in a game earlier this season. Young has led the Falcons to their first regional title since 1950. Photo by Patricia O’Blenes Rochester High senior James Young goes up for a dunk in a game earlier this season. Young has led the Falcons to their first regional title since 1950.

It’s been a season of adding to the record books for Rochester High boys basketball.

The Falcons won their first regional championship since 1950 and, in the process, won their first district title since 1988.

Rochester played in a Class A quarterfinal after press time.

“It’s been a real long time, and everyone is proud,” senior James Young said after beating Bloomfield Hills Lahser 65-41 March 13 at West Bloomfield High for the regional championship. “We (represented) Rochester today, and everyone in the community. I feel good about today.”

Rochester was 21-4 at press time. Young said he feels that the team’s camaraderie is a big factor in its success.

“We’re more like a family than a basketball team. We hang out on and off the court, so I think that’s a real big part in helping us win,” he said.

Against Lahser, Young led all scorers with 27 points, including 17 in the second half.

Lahser led 13-7 after the first quarter, but the game soon got away.

“Basically, all we talked about was not letting them score in transition and giving them second-chance opportunities,” Rochester coach John Pleasant said. “In the second half, we did a much better job.”

Rochester outscored Lahser 16-6 in the second quarter to take a 23-19 lead at the half. The third and fourth quarters were more of the same.

“I think we were playing with some nerves (in the first quarter),” Pleasant said. “We did some things that were out of character, but (Lahser is) a really good team. We’re not that much better than them.”

“For us to just calm down … was the best thing for us to do,” Young said.

In the Falcons’ playoff run, they are beating opponents by an average of nearly 20 points per game. Their closest test was a 60-51 victory against Utica Ford II in their district opener.

See next week’s paper for a full recap of Rochester’s season.

You can reach C & G Sports Writer Christian Davis at cdavis@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1062. Follow Christian on Twitter.