The Elks returned their three best players – Rolf, Gabe Cupps, Tom House – and important role players. They are the team to beat again. With the 6-foot-7 Rolf playing his most minutes of the season Sunday night, the Elks looked as strong as ever against Flyght Academy Prep, a team of mostly Dayton area players a year out of high school and looking for a college opportunity.
Rolf’s minutes increased Sunday from a handful to four minutes a quarter. He scored 19 points, made three 3-pointers and rebounded as he always does. And the Elks rolled to a 74-56 victory with 12 3-pointers, balanced scoring and strong defense in the inaugural Elk Elite Challenge.
“I’m just glad to be back out there with my teammates,” Rolf said. “I’m a little sore, but I’m getting there.”
Cupps, the Elks’ junior point guard and the head coach’s son, knew his senior teammate was bummed about the injury.
“I love Rich, and I’m glad to see him be able to show what he’s worked on in the gym for hours,” Cupps said. “I was intentional about being there for him and asking him how he was doing. I’m just glad to have him back.”
The Elks started fast with 3-pointers from Cupps (12 points), House (19 points, five 3-pointers) and Quinn Hafner (12 points) sparking them to an early lead. Then Rolf entered and made two threes as the lead grew 26-14 by the end of the first quarter.
“I would like to have him out there for 30 minutes instead of 16, but he played great tonight,” Elks coach Brook Cupps said. “He’s such a big part of what we do. He makes us just so much more dynamic offensively.”
Still, Brook Cupps wants his team to play through its defensive effort. Flyght was missing a couple players Sunday, but coach Joey Gruden’s team showed up with a talented roster led by former Trotwood-Madison star Anthony McComb, who along with Wayne grad Tallice Landers, led Flyght with 12 points apiece.
“We were pressuring the basketball and really guarding them,” Cupps said. “I think the way it works is when you do that a lot of times you make shots a little bit better. Part of the reason we made shots early was because of our defensive ball pressure.”
Centerville was originally scheduled to play Vision Academy of New York. But they let Elks athletic director Rob Dement know at 5 p.m. Saturday that they wouldn’t make it because of transportation problems.
“Any time you can play the state champs, you’ve got to say yeah,” Gruden said. “It’s good for the kids to get out there and play and be seen.”
The Elks liken their approach to chopping wood. They say keep chopping is a metaphor for continuing to push to get better. On Sunday, they wore a special gray uniform, designed by assistant coach Eli Leiker, with “CHOP” on the front of it. Gabe Cupps committed to Indiana earlier this fall, and Hoosiers head coach Mike Woodson sat on the baseline Sunday night watching. But Cupps knows his dad won’t let him or anyone else on the team stop chopping no matter what happens off the court.
“This is something we can learn from even though we played well to the eye out there,” Gabe Cupps said. “My dad can always find something that we need to work on. We’re going to go back and work on it, get better and keep improving so we can play our best basketball later in the season.”
That’s the primary reason Coach Cupps likes building a difficult nonconference schedule that includes a trip to an event in Virginia in January and another appearance in Flyin’ To The Hoop.
“Games like this it makes you pay for your mistakes,” he said. “When we broke down defensively, they made a three. If we didn’t hit and box out, they got the rebound. That’s why I’m always in favor of playing the best competition you can possibly play because at the end of the year you know exactly who you are.”
Centerville, 4-0 overall and 3-0 in the Greater Western Ohio Conference, hosts Fairmont (6-0, 3-0) on Tuesday night.
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