Rams Blowout Coyotes as They Get Ready for Playoff Run

Heading into the final three games of the basketball regular season, the Rams faced off against the Cerro Coso Coyotes on Feb. 11, an opponent who in their last meeting, the Rams blew out 125-76. The result was not much different Saturday night as the Rams won 118-79.

The night didn’t start off too well for Cerro Coso – they arrived half an hour late to the game after having car issues, not to mention they were severely under matched, as the team only has two bench players to change.

“Most teams we play don’t have only two people on the bench,” assistant coach Thomas Ammon said. “We’re going to try to beat you with the whole team and force you to try to grind it out with your key pieces.”

At the start of the game, both the Rams and Coyotes came out strong offensively, trading buckets. The Rams mostly relied on three-pointers while the Coyotes were finding it easy inside. The game was fairly close in the first half than most would have thought.

The Rams lacked defensive intensity to start the game. Half way through the first half that quickly changed when guard Cole Morgan had back-to-back steals that would quickly change the momentum in the Rams’ favor.

‘We need not play down to the level of our opponent,” Morgan said. “First half we kind of started off slow and sluggish. In the second half we picked up and started playing what we actually do.”

Morgan would be that spark throughout the entire game as he finished with 10-point, 11-rebound, 14-assist triple double game, not to mention seven steals. The Rams came out in the second half with great intensity and a swarming full-court defense that lead to 23 turnovers by the Coyotes.

Freshman forward Zach Savage was also a big reason why the Rams dominated against the Coyotes. Savage finished with 27-point, 8-rebound, 2-assist, 2-steal as the leading scorer in the game. Savage played big in the post putting back offensive rebounds. leading to him being sent  to the free throw line 8 times, making 7 out of 8 attempts.

After a sluggish first half, the Rams outscored the Coyotes 61-37 in the second, winning by 39 points and gaining more momentum towards the playoffs.

“Our whole focus is the state playoffs and eventually the elite eight,” Ammon said. “Hopefully, [we get to] the championship game, so we got to go in there and get ready for that run.”