Red’s pace had slowed to a trickle in the fourth. Rondout’s had finally picked up, but it was far too little, far too late. Playing physical ball – chippy, even, after an accidental Will Avis elbow to a Rondout player’s lip sparked a slapfight late in the quarter – the Ganders managed to outscore Red 13-11. Mike Rogers recorded a triple in the quarter, and Will Avis had a two-point basket; Dennis Hare netted two two-pointers and a free throw.
According to Hayes, the small starting lineup won’t be the standard – unless the guards play out of their minds every night. “There are going to be times when we’ve got four guards out there and one big, but we’re not going to have the same lineup out there every night.,” he told the Observer after the game. “It depends on who’s playing well – it’s one of the luxuries we have, is that we have 10 kids who can play.”
He added, “And the message that these guys have gotten since this summer is that we’re going to play the guys who are getting the job done for us. If you come to 18 games, you could see 18 different lineups.”
Red will have to adjust to the loss of senior point guard Brendan Tator, who is out for the season after tearing his ACL against Valley Central in the Raiders’ first regular season game on Dec. 4, a 48-37 win. Hayes also said that Michitsch’s nagging back injury was the reason for his late-game removal in the Rondout game.
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