Cousins Anderson, Leaf have Rockets clicking

Rock Falls seniors Jace Anderson and Alex Leaf have grown up together, on and off the basketball court.

Anderson and Leaf's mothers are cousins, but were raised in the same household by their maternal grandmother. Alex and Jace are just as close.

"We treat each other like we're brothers," said Anderson, who averages 10.7 points, has 49 3-pointers and is a 45 percent 3-point shooter. "We fight sometimes, but we love each other."

"Our parents are really close," said Leaf, who averages 5.2 points, 3.5 assists and 2.2 steals. "I used to stay at his house every weekend, and he'd stay at mine. We were together pretty much all the time."

Anderson and Leaf are two-fifths of the starting lineup for Rock Falls, which is 14-4 under first-year coach Brad Bickett.

There was a stretch when they weren't together quite as much.

"When we got into fifth grade, that's when school ball started, and he went to East Coloma and I went to Montmorency," Anderson said. "We would always talk smack during the game, but after the game we were always buddies."

That was from fifth through eighth grade, though the two were still on the same traveling team.

Who got the better of those matchups?

"I guarded him, and he guarded me," Leaf said. "I had one game where I went big, and he had a game where he was automatic outside."

Leaf is the prototypical point guard, while Anderson puts the shooting in shooting guard.

"We're pretty much the opposite as players," Leaf said. "He's more of an offensive specialist. If he's on, everybody knows to get him the ball. I do my best driving and dishing, and I'm more of a defensive specialist."

Anderson has met very few shots he doesn't like. He's known to launch from some 25-feet out.

"I've practiced shooting the ball a lot," he said. "That's what I'm good at. Guys would guard me closer and move me back farther and farther. A lot of times they won't come out that far, so then I can get a shot off."