By Wade Linville –

Another exciting winter season on the hardwood has come to a close for the Fayetteville-Perry Rockets.
The Rockets bowed out of Southwest District Division IV Sectional Tournament play with a 66-53 loss to Cincinnati College Prep on Feb. 28 at Taylor High School.
The Rockets finished their 2016-17 court campaign with an overall record of 8-16, a team that showed improvement throughout the season under the leadership of first-year varsity head coach Jason Iles.
Their loss to CCP in the sectional semifinals on Tuesday at Taylor came after the Rockets’ 57-40 round one sectional win over Middletown Christian. Junior postman Luke Wiederhold and senior guard Max Lanham led the way for the Rockets in their round one sectional win, combining for 46 points.
Lanham and Wiederhold were consistent throughout the game on the offensive end. Lanham scored 15 points in the first half and 11 in the second half to finish with 26 points, leading all scorers.
Wiederhold shot for 11 points in the first half and nine in the second half to finish with 20 points.
Fayetteville center Zak Smyth finished with six points, and rounding out Fayetteville’s scoring were Colin Connor with three points and Nic Ball with two points.
The Rockets defeated Middletown Christian during the regular season on Feb. 4 at Fayetteville by a score of 57-48.
The Rockets were able to hold one of Middletown Christian’s top offensive threats, Dre Shores, to only two points in Saturday’s sectional game.
“I think we limited him (Shores) in every aspect of the game,” Iles said in a post-game interview following the win over Middletown Christian. “I can’t commend my boys enough for their defensive effort.”
The Feb. 28 loss marked the end of high school basketball careers for six Fayetteville-Perry seniors – Nic Ball, Lanham, Tay Call, Tyler Kingus, Garhett Thompson, and Caleb Evans.
Lanham was named to the Southern Hills Athletic Conference All-Conference Team to cap off what has been an outstanding high school career