Published: March 01, 2008 11:56 pm         

Rockville’s 22-0 run too much for Riverton Parke to overcome

Cayuga — A 22-0 run that started with a three-point play by R.J. Mahurin late in the second quarter and continued with 19 unanswered points to start the third quarter did the trick for Rockville.

Having already defeated Riverton Parke twice in the regular season, the Class A No. 5-ranked Rox outlasted the Panthers again for a 78-53 victory in the championship game of the North Vermillion Sectional boys high school basketball tournament Saturday night.

This was Rockville’s first sectional title in boys basketball since 2002.

Leading 40-24 at halftime, the Rox opened the second half with three straight baskets by Mahurin, the third punctuated by a right-handed dunk. Then came an inside bucket by Josh Reed, a rebound bucket by Caleb McMullen, a four-point play by Aaron Bridge, a three-point play by Reed, a free throw by Mahurin and — time to exhale — a free throw by Matt King.

Ironically, the last Riverton Parke points before this outburst came on a three-point play by Jeremy Helton with 1:49 left in the second period. The Rockville run ended on a three-point play by Helton with 3:59 remaining in the third period.

But by then, the score was 59-27 in Rockville’s favor.

“I wasn’t aware it was that many,” Rockville coach Dave Mahurin said when asked about the 22-point explosion. “I knew we came out of the lockerroom with an 18- or 19-point run to start the second half. I just thought we played hard defensively. We played smarter. I thought we calmed down a little bit. In the first half, I thought we pressed things at times.”

“We came out [in the second half] with a new defensive strategy,” Rockville senior Josh Taylor mentioned. “It seemed to work pretty well.”

R.J. Mahurin, a 6-foot-7 1/2 junior, tallied 15 of his game-high 28 points in the lopsided third quarter, which ended with the Rox posting a 27-10 advantage. Dave Mahurin removed R.J. from the game for good with 32.6 seconds to go in the third frame.

In the first quarter, Riverton Parke had reduced its deficit from 6-0 to 6-5 on a 3-pointer by Grant Mitchell and an inside fielder by David Frink.

But Rockville rattled off 13 unanswered points — including five by young Mahurin and four by Reed — to increase its margin to 19-5 by late in the first period.

Dave Mahurin started a slightly different lineup for this game, with sharpshooting guard Caleb McMullen taking the place of the 6-7 Taylor.

“Caleb McMullen gave us a huge lift today,” the veteran coach emphasized. “We wanted to be a little quicker. He understands our rotations a little bit better and we feel like we can really get out and defend with him on the floor. And it also makes our bench stronger with big Josh coming off the bench.”

The Mahurins also savored the moment of winning a sectional together.

“I’m pleased as a parent, I’m pleased as an administrator and I’m pleased as a coach,” Dave said. “It’s unbelievable [to win a sectional with a son as a starter]. The year that he’s had has been any parent’s dream. Anything that can go right for him has gone right for him. I’m just as proud as I can be.”

“It’s one of the best feelings ever,” R.J. insisted. “I feel like I owe him so much. He’s set me up with AAU [Amateur Athletic Union] teams. He’s worked with me since I was a little kid.”

The younger Mahurin also enjoyed winning the sectional with some of his best friends.

“Ever since I’ve moved here, this team has stuck together,” he said. “We’ve never turned our backs on each other. I think these guys deserve it and my dad deserves it.”

One of those friends is senior Taylor Harper, who also played on Rockville’s state-finalist football team in the fall.

“It feels really good,” Harper said. “We’re doing pretty well all around this year. We went to the state in football and we won the sectional in basketball tonight.”

In addition to R.J. Mahurin, Rockville got double-figure scoring from Reed with 13 points and Bridge with 10.

Mitchell and Helton paced Riverton Parke with 11 points apiece.



Rockville 78

Player fg 3pt ft r s pf tp

Bridge 3-8 0-0 4-4 4 0 0 10

Mahurin 9-17 2-8 8-9 3 0 0 28

King 3-9 1-4 2-3 9 4 1 9

Reed 4-6 0-0 5-5 9 1 4 13

McMullen 2-4 0-2 0-0 1 1 2 4

Taylor 2-3 0-0 0-0 1 2 1 4

Parsons 1-2 0-0 1-2 2 0 3 3

Harper 0-3 0-0 0-0 3 0 0 0

Kelley 1-2 0-0 2-2 2 0 2 4

Bradburn 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 1 0

Bettis 1-2 1-1 0-0 1 0 1 3

Burks 0-0 0-0 0-2 1 0 1 0

Totals 26-57 4-16 22-27 *37 8 16 78

Riverton Parke 53

Player fg 3pt ft r s pf tp

Mitchell 4-11 3-8 0-0 6 2 4 11

McLaughlin 3-9 0-0 2-2 3 0 5 8

Frink 4-8 0-0 0-0 3 1 0 8

Vaughn 0-5 0-3 0-0 2 0 2 0

Helton 4-12 0-1 3-4 5 2 1 11

Lehman 1-4 0-1 2-2 2 2 4 4

Harrison 2-2 0-0 1-3 2 1 2 5

Hardesty 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0

White 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2

Yando 2-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 4

Totals 21-54 3-13 8-11 *30 8 19 53

Rockville 26 14 27 11 — 78

Riverton Parke 9 15 10 19 — 53

FG Pct. — Ro .456, RP .389. 3-pt FG Pct. — Ro .250, RP .231. FT Pct. — Ro .815, RP .727. (*) Includes team rebounds — Ro 1, RP 7. Turnovers — Ro 16, RP 21. Blocks — Ro 4 (Mahurin 3, Taylor), RP 1 (Lehman). Flagrant foul — Mitchell.

Next — Rockville (22-3) will advance to the Class A Frankfort Regional to play the Monroe Central (15-8) at noon Saturday. Riverton Parke finished 8-15.