BOURBON - Rockville boys basketball coach Dave Mahurin may downplay his team's potential of winning Saturday's Lafayette Jefferson Semistate game against No. 2 Triton, but his opposing coach knows better.
Defeating Blue River Valley 48-40 in last Saturday's Frankfort Regional championship, the Rockville Rox (21-6) captured their first-ever regional crown, catching their coach by surprise."It was very exciting, but also a little unexpected," Mahurin said about winning the program's first regional crown after capturing 16 sectional titles. "I thought we'd be a good team next year and develop this year. Actually, the seniors have really come through and the young players have played well."
The young player playing best for the Rox is the coach's son, 6-foot-6 sophomore Lane Mahurin, averaging 15.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 3.0 blocks and 2.7 steals a game.
"He's really our go-to guy," Mahurin said of his youngest son, while his oldest son, RJ, will be playing for Indiana State Friday in the NCAA Tournament against Syracuse. "He runs the point, but half of the time he's in the post. He's just starting to figure out how good he can be."
The 22-3 Triton Trojans also have an athletic tall man in 6-5 sophomore Clay Yeo, although Lane Mahurin may spend a little more time on the low blocks.
"He can handle the ball if he needs to, but he scored most of his points inside," Triton coach Jason Groves said about Lane Mahurin. "He's very, very versatile."
Other Rox the Trojans will need to be concerned with are 6-2 senior Zach Kempf (9.7 ppg), as well as sophomores Joel Wittenmyer (8.1 ppg) and Gary Ulrich.
"Our biggest unknown may be (Ulrich), who transferred from Terre Haute South so he couldn't play until the sectional championship because of the 365-day rule by the IHSAA," Mahurin said.
In three games, Ulrich has connected on six of his 12 three-point attempts, averaging eight points a game.
Another shooter, as reluctant as he may be, is senior Tyler Bradburn, who's averaging 4.3 ppg.
"He's a defender and distributor, but he doesn't really have the confidence," Mahurin said. "But if he does, he can shoot."
Along with having shooters, Mahurin views this year's Rox team as a defensive squad, giving up 46.5 points a game, helping the team carry 14-straight wins into the semistate matchup.
"For the first year in my coaching experience, this team is more defensive-minded with a patient offense," Mahurin said. "It's a word I don't like to use, but I'd say we have spurtability. We go into scoring spurts"
Those spurts may be a little limited against the Trojans, who carries a 17-game winning streak of their own and are allowing just 42 points a game.
"They match up with us," Mahurin said.
Mahurin says his team presses "buzzer-to-buzzer" and goes 10-deep, which they may need to do against a Triton team averaging 57.6 points a game and going for its third state appearance in four years.
Leading the Trojans has been senior Griffyn Carpenter, who's averaging 18.9 points and scored 47 points in wins over Pioneer and No. 8 Morgan Township in last Saturday's Triton Regional.
"We've traded tapes with them, so I've seen the their last five games," Mahurin said about scouting Triton. "They're good."
Along with worrying about Carpenter, who's hitting 44.7 percent of his three-point attempts, the Rox will also need to be concerned with Yeo, a player Mahurin is familiar with.
"We've had a few collisions with him through AAU basketball," Mahurin said. "He played for the Spiece AAU team up north and my son (Lane) played for the Spiece team in Indianapolis. So, we've had three or four collisions with him."
Yeo is averaging 16.6 points and 4.8 rebounds for the Trojans, while another concern for Mahurin is senior Austin Davis who is averaging 5.2 points and a team-high 4.9 boards a game.
Along with a talented group of players, which also includes senior Jordan Everett who is averaing 8.0 ppg, the Rox will also have to deal with a team that is seasoned in postseason play.
"The kids know what to expect," Groves said. "They've been through what we do this week with practices and what it's like to play in front of the 7,000 fans. Hopefully, they'll respond to that and handle it a little better than (Rockville) will. Every little advantage helps."
Mahurin's team doesn't have the experience Triton does, but Mahurin is hopeful his squad struggles to realize that.
"Triton has an advantage because they've been there," Mahurin said. "I don't know if our guys are smart enough to know it's a big game. You never know if the moment will be too big."
If his guys don't buckle, Mahurin sees a good game coming this weekend.
"Hopefully we'll at least play well, and if we win, that'd be even better," he said.
