Knights end 3-year drought against cross-town rival Roos Posted On: Wednesday, Nov. 25 2009 05:10 AM By Alex Byington
Killeen Daily Herald

HARKER HEIGHTS – As a player and assistant coach at Killeen, longtime Harker Heights coach Celneque Bobbitt knows the significance of a victory over his alma mater.

That's why the always flashy coach was simply overjoyed following Tuesday's 59-46 win over the Runnin' Roos, snapping a three-year drought against the cross-city rivals in front of a packed Knights Gym.

"It's fantastic. Now I can go back home," Bobbitt joked. "From my house to Killeen High is probably two jumps and a skip, so it's great."

Bragging rights aside, the Knights (2-1) sent Killeen (2-1) to its first loss of the brief season thanks to the sharp-shooting efforts of junior Royce Oneale, who finished with a game-high 19 points and five 3-pointers.

"You could tell, we just didn't come out ready to play," said fifth-year Killeen coach Jason Fossett. "I think we just didn't come out and hustle and get after it. We missed easy layups, we missed free throws, and turned the ball over way too many times."

It was just the second time the Runnin' Roos have fallen to Heights under Fossett's tutelage. He pinned a lot of the team's struggles to inexperience and an injury-depleted roster.

The Roos are still without returning varsity players Ja'Corie Baker and Michael Cummings – neither of whom have seen the court since football season ended – as well as returning starter Sedrick Jennings, who broke his leg before the season.

Along with Oneale's big game outside the arc – he was 5-for-8 from 3-point range – the Knights' biggest showing came on defense, where it limited Killeen's 6-foot-6 powerhouse Ta'Shawn Thomas to just 15 points, all but two of which came in the first and third quarters.

Bobbitt gave the credit to the inside play of undersized junior posts Brandon Bullock (6-foot-2), who added a double-double on offense with 11 points and 10 rebounds, and Micha Rainey (6-foot-5).

"I'm just happy for my coach, he wanted this win so bad for us," said Bullock, who also had an impact controlling the paint on defense. "He's been down the last three years, so we stepped up and played hard, and it paid off in the game."

A slight tweek to their defensive gameplan also proved beneficial to forcing talented Roos scoring threat Anthony Taylor into a poor shooting percentage (4-for-12) to finish with just 12 points after averaging 20 points the first two games.

"We were going under the screen instead of over the top," Bobbitt said. "... By going under the screen, that eliminates (Taylor) getting to the lane, where he would (instead) have to take the jump shot, and fortunately, it wasn't on tonight."

Oneale's shot, on the other hand, was on. Scoring Heights' first nine straight points on 3 three-pointers, Oneale kept the Knights competitive in a sloppy first quarter, which ended in an 11-11 tie.

But while the Knights seemed to clean up their game, the Roos' woes continued as Killeen turned the ball over 11 times in the second quarter, which Heights took advantage of, outscoring their rivals 10-4 over the final five minutes to end halftime leading 25-19.

The Knights never trailed the rest of the game, holding off a brief third quarter rally and ultimately doubling up the Roos 24-12 in the fourth to claim their first victory since the 2005-06 season.

That year, when Heights would win its last district championship, the Knights edged out the rival Roos 71-59 behind 32 points from former guard Matt Addison.

But since then, it's been all Killeen – at least until Tuesday night.

Contact Alex Byington at alexb@kdhnews.com or at (254) 501-7566.