Men’s basketball falls to Rocklin in playoffs

PHOTO: Senior Cody Taylor from the Davis High men’s basketball team shoots the ball.

By Aleena Yarovaya,

BlueDevilHUB.com Staff–

On Wednesday, Feb. 20, the Davis High men’s basketball team arrived at Rocklin to face the Rocklin High Thunders in the first round of playoffs. Although the Blue Devils matched Rocklin closely throughout the game, the game ended 87-75 in Rocklin’s favor.

The Devils came in as the underdogs, seeded 14th in the Sac Joaquin Section. Rocklin, seeded fourth in the section, had the advantage of playing on their infamous home court, known for its rowdy student section. 

“[We wanted to] just do our best, we were ranked lower so we had nothing to lose, and wanted to just play as hard as possible, and I think we did that,” senior Cody Taylor said. 

Although the game started out with a 3-0 lead for Davis after sophomore Bryce Barker scored the first points of the match-up, Rocklin pulled ahead with a 23-20 lead to end the first quarter. 

The Blue Devil defense was strong, with senior Ryan Hakl and junior Keaton Massey blocking many of Rocklin’s attempts. Sophomore Collin Walsh also racked up points for Davis, sinking numerous three-pointers and free throws. 

Going into the second half, the Devils trailed behind at 45-39. The Thunder led throughout the third and fourth quarters, with the score gap fluctuating as high as 12 points, but with a minute and change left in the game, the Devils tightened the gap to five points. 

However, the Devils still fell to Rocklin, ending the game with a 12-point difference.

Although the Devils made playoffs, many felt the team could have gone farther due to their extremely successful start to the season. 

“It was kind of disappointing because we started 11-0, and didn’t go as far as we thought we could,” senior Joey Voss said.

In addition to playing away, the Devils had the disadvantage due to CJ Fabionar and San Francisco State commit Theo Seng, two of their star seniors, being benched because of injuries. As the Davis roster is stacked with seniors, it was also the last game for eight other seniors. 

“The most memorable moment was being to play the last one minute of the game with Cody Taylor, Joey Asta and Ryan Hakl, who are all seniors,” Barker said. 

The Devils ended their season placing 17th within the section.