Friday, December 26, 2008 11:07 PM CST
Casey hangs around, but falls to Rockville
By RICK DAWSON, Staff Writer
rdawson@jg-tc.com
TERRE HAUTE — Casey-Westfield hung around with Rockville just long enough to make its coach wonder how one more good quarter could have aided his team.
The Rox, 5-0 and the top-rated team in the smallest of Indiana’s four classes, opened the third period with a 15-0 run, ushering Casey to the consolation bracket of the Wabash Valley Classic after a 66-40 victory Friday. The quarter hardly mirrored the first two, when the Warriors (3-2) led for several minutes before heading to the half trailing by just six.
“We had our chances,” Casey coach Chris Seaton said. “We came out on two possessions (early in the second half) and missed four free throws. Instead of cutting that six-point lead and getting back our confidence, I think it cut into our confidence. And then they’re a pretty good basketball team.”
Undoubtedly, Rockville is. Although it never overwhelmed Casey with its athleticism, it caused plenty of problems with its size. R.J. Mahurin, a 6-foot-8 Indiana State recruit who is the tourney’s all-time leading scorer, had 22 points and 10 rebounds and 6-4 guard Matt King added 15 points with his soft shooting touch.
It forced Casey into plenty of shots it didn’t want to take, many of them from 3-point range, where it shot 2-for-20.
“I thought defensively the third quarter turned the game around,” Rockville coach Dave Mahurin said. “We were able to do a better job containing penetration, doing a little better job rebounding, playing a little stronger, a little smarter. I felt like the first half we never, ever ran anything. We just ran up and down the floor and everybody tried to perform.”
The hype of a high ranking has, to an extent, gone to his players’ heads, Mahurin said, citing that they hadn’t played four solid quarters yet. But that alone didn’t account for how close the score was early. Mitch Snyder (19 points) and Riley Scales, who scored all eight of his points in the first period, consistently took the ball strong to the basket as the Warriors built a 14-8 lead.
After Rockville went ahead 30-19, Snyder had five more points to cut that deficit to 32-26 by halftime.
“Casey played hard and played well,” Dave Mahurin said. “We scouted them against Chrisman last week and I thought they were a good club. We weren’t surprised they were a good team.”
Apart from missing its first four free-throw attempts in the third quarter, Casey also missed its first six shots until Snyder’s layup ended a run that put Rockville ahead 47-28. Mahurin had seven of his points during the spurt.
“We’ll just see how we come back (today),” Seaton said. “I’ve got a lot of confidence that our kids will come back and play a lot better.”
Owen Valley (3-4) is up next at 4:30 p.m. today. It lost 66-52 to the other Little Illini Conference team in the field, Marshall, which made just one turnover in the first two-and-a-half quarters while running its lead to 41-20.
Logan Eitel had 21 points, Taylor Duncan 13 and Lucas Eitel 12 for unbeaten Marshall, which meets Rockville today at 7:30 p.m. Today.
The tournament is loaded with ranked teams from Indiana, including Terre Haute South, fourth in Class 4A; West Vigo, 12th in Class 3A; and Shakamak, No. 7 in Class A.
Rockville 66, Casey-Westfield 40
Casey 16 10 4 10 — 40
Rockville 16 16 20 14 – 66
CASEY: Scales 3 1-1 8; Shawver 3 1-2 7; Scott 2 0-2 4; Snyder 8 2-4 19; Kusterman 0 0-0 0; Brewer 0 0-0 0; Barnhart 0 0-0 0; Unzicker 0 0-2 0; Shull 1 0-0 2; Thais 0 0-0 0; Lu. McVey 0 0-0 0; Lo. McVey 0 0-0 0; Livvix 0 0-0 0. Totals: 17 4-11 40.
ROCKVILLE: King 5 3-4 15; Reed 1 1-4 3; Mahurin 7 7-9 22; Parsons 1 3-6 5; Bridge 3 2-2 8; Bradburn 1 0-0 2; White 0 0-0 0; McMullen 1 0-0 3; Kelley 2 0-2 4; Wake 1 0-0 2; Bettis 1 0-0 2; Lear 0 0-0 0. Totals: 23 16-27 66.
3-point goals: Casey 2 (Scales, Snyder); Rockville 4 (King 2, Mahurin, McMullen); Shooting percentages: Casey .304; Rockville .442. Rebounds: Casey 30 (Snyder 8, Brewer 6); Rockville 44 (Mahurin 10, King 9). Turnovers: Casey 16; Rockville 14.
Marshall 66, Owen Valley 52
Marshall 15 17 18 16 — 66
Owen Valley 9 11 15 17 – 52
MARSHALL: Lu. Eitel 5 0-0 12; Lo. Eitel 8 5-5 21; Brashear 4 0-0 8; Morey 3 0-0 9; T. Duncan 6 1-3 13; Delp 0 0-0 0; J. Duncan 0 0-0 0; Cannady 1 0-0 3; Tucker 0 0-0 0; Grooms 0 0-0 0. Totals: 27 6-8 66.
OWEN VALLEY: Lientz 6 5-5 19; Warner 0 0-0 0; Vest 5 0-0 12; Gobert 4 0-0 8; Hollows 3 0-0 7; Collier 1 0-0 3; Worland 0 0-0 0; Roth 0 0-0 0; Gilstrap 1 0-0 3. Totals: 20 5-5 52.
3-point goals: Marshall 6 (Morey 3, Lu. Eitel 2, Cannady); Owen Valley 7 (Lientz 2, Vest 2, Hollows, Collier, Gilstrap); Shooting percentages: Marshall .400; Owen Valley .465. Rebounds: Marshall 29 (Lo. Eitel 9, Brashear 8); Owen Valley 30 (Gobert 10). Turnovers: Marshall 4; Owen Valley 21.
Contact Rick Dawson at rdawson@jg-tc.com or 238-6855.
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