Coolidge earns bragging rights this time
Ron Bailey, Publisher
January 11, 2008 – Last night, a Washington D.C. grudge match resumed, one that literally generations of students, fans, and neighbors have engaged in; Calvin Coolidge and Theodore Roosevelt High Schools once again competed in athletic competition, this time hoops.
Fans of the visiting Coolidge Colts left the Rough Rider’s gym victorious, as their boys basketball team secured a 65-53 victory before a packed crowd. The game lived up to its billing as a battle between the DCIAA’s two top teams – not only in the Western Division, but possibly overall as well.
Coming into the contest, Roosevelt’s Athletic Director and football coach, Darryl Tilghman, an 1984 graduate of the school, labeled the rivalry “almost akin to that of the Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys”, an on-spot analogy indeed.
Roosevelt, coached by Rob Nickens, has a reputation for pressing teams as soon as they depart the bus, but didn’t do so versus Coolidge, who seemed to take advantage by getting the ball inside and racing to a 10-3 early lead. By the time the second quarter started, the Rough Riders had returned to their full court pressure (a 2-2-1 press), helping them tie the game at 17.
Andre Mattison of Coolidge was the Player of the Game.
Around this time, junior Delac Cromwell (22 points) started to score, primarily from the perimeter, something he would do all night. Coolidge responded by alternating at various times between match up zone, and man to man defensive alignments, thereby not only applying pressure, but stunting Roosevelt’s offensive momentum. Offensively, senior swingman Zach Webb (11 points, 4 assists, 5 rebounds) supplied several key buckets during this stretch.
If you get the impression this game became a chess match, you should, as it did. “Well, Rob and I used to coach together at M.M Washington” noted Coolidge’s coach, Vaughan Jones, when asked of matching wits with Nickens. “We both do a good job with kids in terms of teaching, not just with basketball but developing them as young men”.
One such player that Jones is developing is junior frontcourt man Andre Mattison (22 points, 10 rebounds), who admitted afterward he had his best game of this season: During intermission, Jones lamented his team’s rebounding, and Mattison responded, attacking the boards with energy in the third and fourth quarters.
“Coach Jones told us we could win with defense and rebounding, and that’s what we concentrated on in the second half” shared Mattison of his focus, while Jones opined “I think Andre did a yeoman’s job today…he kept a lot of those guys off the boards by himself”.
“I know for Coolidge, it puts us in first place” said Jones of the win. “Right now, everybody’s playing to catch up to us.
Mattison agreed, adding “come playoff time, they know we can beat them”.
Roosevelt may have something to say about that in early February, when the rubber match is scheduled to occur. Until that time, Coolidge, now 8-7, 2-0 in the league, has the upper hand on a 7-7, 1-1 in conference play Rough Rider squad, in both standings and rivalry bragging rights.
In Northwest D.C., both mean a lot.