By Bill Bray
FREMONT – The tale of two halves took place at the “Purple Pit” Saturday night as the Fremont Ross Little Giants strolled to a 79-35 victory in the team’s opener.
After spending the first half shaking off the nerves and misques, Ross turned up the heat in the cold gym in the third quarter pouring in 32 third quarter points to gain their inaugural victory.
“At the break I told them to just stop being so nervous,” coach John Cahill said. “We just played so tight. We scrimmaged well the past few weeks, but we just looked terrified in the first half.”
All-Ohio candidate Ayden Carter carried the team on his shoulders the first half as the senior ended the first two quarters with 19 of Fremont’s 36 points. The Giants ended the first half holding a 36-25 lead.
Carter Rodriguez (10) started the season out right with 19 points.
Ayden Carter (22) scores two of his 30 points with this rim tickler.
It proved to be a third quarter led by Fremont’s two senior veterans in Carter and Carter Rodriguez. Of the 32 third-quarter points scored in the third frame, Carter contributed eight points while Rodriguez came to life leading the way with 13 markers.
Fremont’s score sheet, that is shown on this page, shows Carter ended the night with a fine 30-point performance. Carter Rodriguez was the other double-figure scorer for Ross with 19 points. Makai Lee, a new face to the varsity scored nine, seniors Mason Durnwald and Adam “Ciwey” Hrynciw finished with seven points apiece, fellow senior Anthony Vann had four points and DeKentre Hardin finished with a three-pointer for three points.
“We had a lot of guys playing varsity for the first time,” Cahill added. “Once we got going, I like this team. If we are judged on how hard we play and how well we share the ball, we struggled with that early. But when we put up 32 in the third quarter, the ball moved well, and a lot of our guys got shots. I think we will be a team that Fremont will be proud of.”
The Little Giants have back-to-back games this weekend when they host TRAC opponent Oregon Clay Friday night and then play host to a tough Tiffin Columbian Tornado team Saturday.
