At 6 feet 5, senior forward Nate Reese is at least 4 inches taller than the rest of Rich East’s starters.
The 170-pound Reese gives up height and weight to most opposing post players, but he knows it’s on him to deliver some inside production for the Rockets.
“I have to use my athleticism to get inside, score points and get as many rebounds as I can,” Reese said. “We’re not a tall team, but we’re all athletic enough that height doesn’t matter.”
Reese produced a dominant effort Friday night, finishing with 23 points and eight rebounds to lead visiting Rich East to a 73-66 Southland Conference win over Rich Central.
“Zach can score from anywhere on the court,” Rich East interim coach Jamaal Hodges said. “He’s one of the best shooters I’ve seen in a long time, and he can get inside and score too. The big thing for him is focus, and he was ready to go for this one.”
Antron Washington added 17 points, and Vashawn Sims had 11 for the Rockets (13-6, 4-1).
Jace Lee finished with 18 points and 16 rebounds for Rich Central (9-9, 3-2), while Bryonte Washington produced 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Reese got off to a fast start, hitting two early 3-pointers and scoring nine points in the first quarter. He then exploded for 11 points in the third quarter, doing his damage inside.
Reese helped the Rockets outscore the Olympians 24-7 in the third to turn a 35-27 halftime lead into a 59-34 advantage.
Rich East forced 14 turnovers in the third and 30 for the game.
“When I get hot, I get in the zone,” Reese said. “When I get in the zone, I know how to score the ball.”
One thing the Rockets didn’t do well was finish off the game. The Olympians scored 32 points in the fourth and got within six points twice in the closing two minutes.
Antron Washington hit four free throws in the final 63 seconds to help Rich East seal the win.
“We’ve been playing together for so long and we have such great chemistry, so we weren’t worried,” Antron Washington said. “We just had to do our thing and finish off the win.”
Dawan Evans finished with 11 points for Rich Central.
“We can take some positives from the fourth quarter,” Rich Central coach Cornelius Crossley said. “We’ve got to be ready to match teams’ intensity from the start, though. They hit us in the mouth, and we weren’t ready to respond.”
Steve Millar is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
