CAYUGA — Turkey Run had its hands full with short-handed Riverton Parke, falling behind 23-12 midway in the second quarter. But the Warriors dominated the balance of the game for a 50-39 victory in the Class A North Vermillion boys basketball sectional on Friday.
In the opener, Rockville — labeled “Drew Kelley and the babies” jokingly by Rox coach Dave Mahurin afterward — took Covington to the limit and beyond, but the youthful Rox eventually dropped a 49-47 decision in overtime.
Turkey Run (14-9) will meet Covington (16-6) in the sectional championship game at 7:30 p.m. today. Rockville (10-12) and Riverton Parke (2-20) concluded their seasons.
RP played without its leading scorer and rebounder Garrett Lientz, on crutches after injuring an ankle in their regular season finale. But the Panthers didn’t miss a beat, at least in the early going.
The Panthers connected on 7 of its first 12 shots, including four 3-pointers from four different players, without a turnover to build its 11-point lead.
But the balance of the game was a different story, as the Panthers connected on just 7-of-25 shots, turning the ball over 13 times.
“[RP] shot it well early, but I didn’t feel like the way we contested shots quite as well as I would have liked,” TR coach Joey Hart said. “Seems like in this tournament we’ve had to get down 10 [points] before we play. But give Riverton credit, their kids played hard.
“We showed composure and got back in it … were able to knock down our free throws. Once we got the lead, I felt like we controlled the game.”
Turkey Run finally wrested the lead from RP at 32-30 on a 3-pointer by reserve Jacob Hayn with 3:48 left in the third quarter.
Hayn’s basket was in the midst of a string of scoring on five straight possessions. TR scored on four straight possessions early in the fourth quarter to assume its largest lead of the game at 47-35.
Jake Weaver led the Warriors with 21 points, five rebounds and three steals. Josh Karr had a near double-double of eight points, nine rebounds.
Daniel Hardesty paced the Panthers with 10 points and eight rebounds,.
Rockville led the majority of the first half vs. Covington, but a 12-2 run by the Trojans put them up 25-21 at intermission. The Rox turned the ball over 13 times in the first half, seven of them on steals by Covington guards Johnny Brazas and Clay Martin.
Covington led all of the third quarter, but the fourth quarter featured three ties and three lead changes. Specifically, Cyle Knecht had a huge impact for the Trojans late in the fourth quarter and in overtime.
Knecht hit a big 3-pointer from the baseline corner to knot the score at 39-39 with 3:29 remaining, then tied the game again at 41-41 with 1:52 left on a power move.
Still, freshman Joel Wittenmeyer scored on a drive with 1:20 to go to put the Rox ahead 43-41. Soon after, during a Rox timeout, Mahurin stressed to his team that they had a foul to give in defending the Trojans.
Yet somehow, Knecht got behind the Rox defense for an easy layup to tie the game at 43-43 with 13 seconds left, sending the game to overtime.
“Had a foul to give and didn’t give it,” Mahurin noted. “But that’s the way it goes when you are playing kids.”
In OT, the Rox led 45-43 on a rebound basket by Kelley, then Kelley tied the game for the final time at 47-47 on a turnaround jumper with 31 seconds left.
Once again, Knecht rose to the occasion, scoring on a drive with 15 seconds to go for the final 49-47 margin of victory. Rox sophomore Cody Jeffries missed a 3-point shot at the buzzer.
“When we got down and we needed big baskets late in the fourth quarter and overtime, it didn’t seem like we were afraid to take a big shot,” Covington coach Kent Chezem said. “Our kids really executed down the stretch.”
“They beat us … we had a chance, we had more than one chance,” Mahurin concluded. “Championship teams win games like that and evidently, Covington’s headed that way.”
High School
Turkey Run to face Covington for Class A NV Sectional title
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