The Okawville Rockets’ basketball season has begun. This year, the Rockets’ roster consists of Grant Schleifer (Sr.), Dillon Teter (Sr.), Joe Jansen (Sr.), Andrew Savard (Sr.), Hayden Shubert (Sr.), Rylan Nelson (Jr.), Bennett Krohne (Jr.), Aidan Anderson (So.), John Schaller (So.), Grant Moody (So.), Parker Wiese (So.), Calvin Maynard (So.), Ryker Obermeier (Fr.), and Landen Shubert (Fr.). 

To kick off their season, the Rockets played in the annual Kaskaskia Classic, hosted by Carlyle. The Kaskaskia Classic is a pool play tournament; the Rockets were in Pool A, along with Pinckneyville, Flora, and Nokomis. On Saturday, November 26, the Rockets played the Pinckneyville Panthers to start the tournament. The Panthers started off very strong, and the Rockets could not keep up. The Rockets fell to the Panthers, 65-36. 

On the next Tuesday, the Rockets faced off against the Flora Wolves. The two teams played a very even game for the first quarter, until the Wolves pulled away early in the second. The Rockets were not able to recover and lost 38-29. 

On that Friday, Okawville competed against the Nokomis Redskins. The Redskins started very hot, and the Rockets could not match them. For the rest of the game, Nokomis continued to pull away. The Rockets fell to the Redskins, 57-26. 

The next day, the Rockets played in the 7th place game against the Woodlawn Cardinals. In the first half, the game was very equal; both teams fought very hard. At the start of the third quarter, the Cardinals began to pull away, and at the start of the fourth, they were beating the Rockets by as much as 10. In the final minutes of the game, the Rockets began to come back. Okawville got within two points of Woodlawn, but it was too late. The final score was 51-49, Woodlawn. The Rockets finished 8th in the Kaskaskia Classic with a record of 0-4. 

Despite the slow start in the tournament, the Rockets took a trip to Trico High School on December 6, and were able to achieve their first win. Both teams played very well and evenly, until the fourth quarter, when the Rockets were able to pull away; the final score was 49-35. 

Although the Okawville Rockets started their season off slow, they are hoping to still have a great season!