HENDERSON – The Prairie View Thunderhawks boys basketball team seemed prepared to battle one of the top teams in state in Rock Canyon Friday night. But too many turnovers and missed shots would haunt them.

    The end result saw the home team drop its third game of the season by the count of 60-41, thanks to a big second half by the Jaguars of Rock Canyon.

    RCHS improves to 10-1 on the season, while the Thunderhawks fall to 6-3 overall.

    “That was a tough game against a tough opponent,” head coach Tim DeBerry said, shortly after the game. “The kids played well. That was a good team we played, and we hung tough for much of the game.”

    Both teams played tough early on, forcing plenty of missed shots and turnovers. The first basket of the game didn’t come until 5:52 on the clock, where Erik Fritch nailed a 3-pointer for Prairie View to put his team up first.

    The lead would climb to five in the opening quarter after back-to-back buckets from Derrick Ward made the score 7-2. Eventually, the home team led 8-4 after one quarter of play.

    Rock Canyon raised the level of play in the second quarter, displaying a full-court press that the ThunderHawks struggled with. The Jaguars started the quarter on an 11-0 run before Prairie View called a time out, down 15-8 with 6:18 still to play in the half.

    “They stepped it up and we just weren’t playing good,” DeBerry said in describing the beginning of the second quarter. “Their press was effective, forcing us into bad shots and turnovers. But once we started calming down and playing our game, we were able to make a run.”

    RCHS generated a lead as big as 10 (23-13) with 1:26 to play before Prairie View woke up. Ward scored five of the next 10 points, including a three-point play in the last few minutes. The quarter closed on a layup by Galen Simpson, making the halftime score 23-20.

    The ThunderHawks played tough, cutting the deficit to one at 29-28 in the third quarter with 4:15 to go. But Rock Canyon finished the quarter on a 12-3 run, taking a 10-point advantage after the third quarter.

    The Jaguars outscored Prairie View 19-10 in the fourth quarter to finish with the 19-point victory.

    Ward led all scorers with 17 points. Prairie View also got seven points from both Isiah Maestas and Sampson and six from Fritch. RCHS was led by junior Adam Sunshine, who had 16.

    After playing a team like Rock Canyon, a team that is beginning to receive state recognition, DeBerry knows there are some things to work on.

    “We have to improve on our passing and our shooting,” DeBerry said. “We left a lot of shots on the rim tonight. We typically play good defense, and I was happy with our effort.”

    The ThunderHawks will be quite busy this week with three games in four days. It begins Jan. 12, when they travel to Fort Lupton. They play Denver West Wednesday and return home Friday when they host conference foe Skyview.